<p>My friends and I all feel the same way right now. We all sort of are enjoying our lives a lot right now but also feel like we are just "waiting" for college to come because we aren't accomplishing anything</p>
<p>I don't think it is at all odd to not be excited for college. It gets such a long buildup during the high school years, and for now the work is over. You are having an awesome summer and your life couldn't be better (congrats!), so you may think you have nowhere to go but "down". Really, though, this is not necessarily true. It sounds like you are a person who is gregarious and embraces new experiences, so you fall at Penn will likely be wonderful. In the meantime, there is nothing wrong with enjoying the moment! :)</p>
<p>Reeze, I found this thread reassuring as well even though I am a mom. You sound just like my D. She is happier than she has ever been with no stress, a couple nice but low key jobs, a great social life and nothing to worry about. She told us one night when we did the - aren't you excited about college - line, that she knows come fall she will have the intense academic stress of going pre-med; the athletic stress of having to prove herself on her team (D3 though) and the social temptations and distractions which she will want to take advantage of. She knows it will be hard to strike a balance; she knows she will be happy once she arrives, but she too wants to live in the moment and not consume the rest of her time with anticipation about college. She will do a freshman kayak trip so I think that will help ease the transition but it also means leaving before her friends. I think this is completely normal and how most kids feel - this summer is the reward for how hard you guys worked and I hope you can compartmentalize and enjoy every minute. As for my lesson form my chats with D, I don't ask any of her friends about college. I know it puts them on the spot and takes them out of the moment.</p>
<p>Reeze, I love your question and the responses you've been getting and agree with them all. I think that my son had a similar summer after high school. Wi****l is the right word--it makes us parents gaze at all of you and wish we were young again. I remember thinking, "At last!"--that in the hectic 4 years that were high school, with all of its academic and other rigors, he had forged such wonderful friendships that all the kids wanted to spend every possible minute with each other that summer before they left and scattered across the country. I remember there were so many trips that he took to say goodbye as friends started to leave--so many last nights, so many pre-dawn- morning-before-the-airport trips. </p>
<p>To have a great future ahead of you, but to be able to focus on your great friends, how good life is RIGHT NOW, and to savor every minute--that is truly a gift. I hope you keep it your whole life long. I suspect that, like my son, you will get excited when the time is right, and that same quality of being able to live in the moment, will help your experience at Penn be fantastic too. </p>
<p>My son is now a rising junior in college. He still sees those friends he loved in the summer after high school, but now he has new friends too, and exciting new places to go and things to do. He is still just as happy, or perhaps even more so, because of all the many new doors that have been opened by college. </p>
<p>Enjoy every minute and don't worry!</p>
<p>I am a 2010er and I totally feel what Reeze is going through. My friends and I have been getting closer for years now, and I finally am completely happy with my social life and activities. I am going to the beach all the time, checking out concerts, and spending the rest of my summer hanging out. I am looking forward to college because I am an intellectually curious nerd, and am excited to be around a whole bunch of other intellectually curious nerds, and while I hope that my social life will be just as fruitfull at college, I prefer what Ive got to the unknown.</p>
<p>I know exactly where you are coming from. I am going into senior year, and this summer I went away for a month. Our summers are only 6 weeks long so I really tried to live it up the 2 weeks before I left. I went to the beach everyday, started hanging out with this really cool guy, there were always great parties at night, etc. By the end on those 2 weeks I was SOOOOO content and happy at home that I thought about asking my parents to just forget about this summer program. </p>
<p>Well, I went and it was the greatest experience of my life. The first day, I looked around at all these unfamiliar faces and I thought...Why am I here, I hate making new friends because I hate small talk...well those people turned out to be some of the most amazing people I've ever met. I learned so much about myself and I really got good at what I am passionate about (it was a writing camp). I've never been pushed so hard, but when I had to say goodbye to everyone at the airport, I cried for at least an hour. </p>
<p>It may seem like what you have now is everything you could possibly want, but there is so much more out there. I think you will be more than happy once you get there.</p>