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BERKELEY'S NEWS • NOVEMBER 18, 2023

How to enjoy your last real weekend of summer vacation

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FRANCES YANG | STAFF

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MAY 18, 2018

Summer has begun, but for those unfortunate souls taking classes in Session A, this will be the last weekend they have before the pressure mounts up once again. So for those who shall soon resume their suffering, and as an early look for the more fortunate others who (for now) still have a stay of execution, here are things to do as you desperately take advantage of those last few moments of freedom.

Explore the empty campus

Especially in this week, when the only pedestrian traffic is from people attending graduation, campus is almost terrifyingly empty. It’s a surprise if there are more than a dozen people on Sproul — including both Upper and Lower Sproul. On the bright side, you get to do things on campus that you wouldn’t be able to with the usual milling crowds of students, such as taking aesthetic pictures (though you may have to fight off some tourists). And of course, the crown jewel of being in Berkeley for the summer is that you’re guaranteed to actually be able to find a seat in Moffitt. Maybe you’ll even score one of the cubicles — though what you’ll even be doing there at this time beats us.

Binge-watch (yet another) TV show

Of course, this was probably what you were already doing before, leading up to the sudden panic of what to do with these fast-vanishing last few hours of freedom. But spice that up a bit — set some goals for yourself by putting a number for exactly how many seasons you want to rush through in your last weekend. You could even rewatch some of the series that you didn’t finish during spring break. Use your recently brushed-up skills of webcasted lecture watching and go through a show at 1.5x speed!

Sleep

Break is short, especially in retrospect. Take advantage of what time you have and pay off that sleep debt you accumulated, becoming the living embodiment of the couch potato. Except that your couch is too far away and it’s much, much easier to just stay in bed. Get in the hours you can before, as the Berkeley student tradition demands, you inevitably become sleep deprived. Again.

Meet up with some (equally desperate) friends

You aren’t the only one struggling with the reality of the impending doom that is the end of break. Find those other kindred spirits and wallow in the collective misery that is the realization that your freedom is coming to an end. But most of all, it’s important to have some fun with other people. Go out together! Go for boba, for food, for an all-out adventure in SF, basically anything you can to enjoy this last bit of time for yourself!

Summer school truly separates the strong from the strongest. For those willing to give up your summer for education, we salute you.

Contact Jonathan Lai at [email protected].
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MAY 18, 2018