It’s been a couple of months since we emerged blinking from Himes Halls after finishing our finals. The grades have long been in the books, and while many have left Baton Rouge to have fun and fulfilling summer vacations, some are stuck here.
Locked in apartment leases and schedules for summer classes, the Baton Rouge area leaves much to be desired regarding summer fun.
The city increases the amount of construction projects it takes on specifically to annoy those that are still in the city. Road rage increases exponentially when you’re trying to get to Walmart at 3 p.m. and half of the road is closed.
Meanwhile, friends are Instagramming pictures of themselves lying on the beach covered in sand, sunscreen and serendipity — #wanderlust — while you’re lying on the Parade Ground with your face in the grass getting eaten by ants.
If you wanted to jump in a pool that badly, you could go to Blue Bayou, but water parks are a breeding ground for disgusting diseases and brain-eating amoebas. Instead, go soak in a tub with bath salts while scrolling down your Instagram, envious of friends soaking up culture in Venice.
The sweltering heat and monstrous thunderstorms are even drearier, and all our friends are in Europe with beautiful, perfect weather, unable to commiserate with us and our 100-degree temperatures.
All those delicious and original places they’re dining at while studying abroad can wet your appetite when all you have to eat is Cane’s and pizza in one facet or another. The new Sonic on Burbank Drive was a fresh addition when it opened, but the excitement has already worn off and everyone realizes it’s just a Sonic.
Don’t worry about that summer internship you wanted but didn’t get — there is plenty of work in the food and retail industries to keep you busy all summer. Folding shirts and flipping burgers sound glorious with the promise of a hefty paycheck, but you will soon miss the cold air conditioning of that geography class you skipped during the spring.
For those taking summer classes, the pain is still real. With finals week approaching, students slowly realize they wasted two months of their precious summers stuck in a town with nothing to do except drink copious amounts of alcohol.
So you’re stuck studying while orientation groups continuously run in and out of whatever building you barricaded yourself into. Oh yeah, and STRIPES is starting now, so you have that to look forward to.
And what’s the worst part about staying in Baton Rouge during the summer? We’re all kidding ourselves that there is actually anything to do.
Jennifer Vance is a 19-year-old mass communication junior from Haughton, La.