What did you do this summer? That is the one question you know you are going to be asked by multiple people, friends or not, once you arrive back on campus in the fall semester. What is the right answer? Do I want to appear amusing, or should I appear serious? Do I want to be realistic or overcompensate for a three-month summer? Those are the questions.

However, going back to campus is not just about being interrogated. It is a stressful yet joyful feeling, considering you are going to see all of your friends again. You know your way around campus and you get back to an already acquainted schedule. This is all positive, but summer has left you even if the weather is still sunny. One thing keeping you close to summer sanity is feeling the UV high even if you are not lying on a beach, the feeling of the sun on your face when you exit your dorm warms your presence even if you know that the next stop is a classroom with the AC blasted on the back of your neck. The sun may make you happy, but nothing compares to the sun you co-existed with when you were in your hometown with your family and cultural food.

Summer was lived to its fullest, even if you did not land that job or if you did not have that internship. Books and music you read and listened to did count, and they counted not because you fulfilled a task but because you had fun while doing it. To have fun is to love yourself, and those fun things are an expression of your liberty. Summer was partially Lana del Ray’s “Summertime Sadness” music video and partially the 1983 Katrina and the Waves “Walking on Sunshine.”

Over three months, you learn how to be one with your thoughts, how to coexist in a house again and depend on other people, when in comparison to the previous year on campus, you cease to exist alone. Over the summer, you learn to re-love yourself and understand that you can live alone as an entity and that it is okay to take some time for yourself. That is what I had this summer, a chance to inhabit my own bubble. And the truth is that you missed home and your family, and at the same time, it is more than acceptable to listen to yourself, telling you that you need personal time. Summertime is a libertarian validation of your previous over-productive academic year, and it is not a wasted time but a gift of your achievements.

Now, returning to reality, one has to keep those memories with them to survive the semester. I do that now, and even if you daydream about those summer memories in the middle of class or before you go to bed, you still have them at heart and in your head and that is the important thing. You can learn how to feel alive even on campus. I understand that this will not be your freshman year, so the academic year does not feel like a trial to subscribe to a website, but rather a continuation of commitment to your goals. Going back to campus is a reality check, you can feel overwhelmed, stressed, and scared, but it can be seen as a new chapter of your life’s book, or even a new book if you feel like it.

Remember that fall does not mean sadness. New beginnings can initiate a warm feeling of missing home, but when returning, you realize that you created a new home, maybe far, maybe close to your hometown, but it flourished with the same feelings. Your friends, your roommates, and your company keep you sane. They are there with you and for you, to share your summer adventures or thoughts. You will never feel alone.

One thing keeping you from insanity when you open your course books or a colloquium reading can be your summer playlist or a favorite book you read over the summer. It can be that summer song you obsessively listened to while dancing with your friends or a song that reminds you of your parents and home.

For me this summer, “Walking on the Ceiling” by Ayşegül Savaş was my beach read and my safety. It was a book I picked up while on study away in Paris. It is about a woman moving away to Paris for part of her life and her experience maneuvering life there. It reminded me of myself and my experience traveling and staying in Paris for the first time. It kept me company in the summer, allowing me to keep my memories safe and alive. That is what I suggest to all people experiencing homesickness, not only of home but of summer memories as well! Grab your favorite summer book or romance playlist and live vicariously through your own memories! Remember that you do not have to feel guilty being in university and reminiscing about summer! Find your independence in yourself and your dependence on your found family.