Summer break is in full swing, and students and faculty find enjoyment in the long break. With many ways to fill summer agendas, students' and faculty's breaks go by fast.
Nearly 90% of college students have reported working during the summer in a survey for the National Recreation and Park Association.
The survey also reported 36.9% of students worked in retail or food service, and 41.1% of students reported returning to the same job they had the summer before.
Makayla Phillips, a senior studying business studies with a minor in marketing, has returned to her summer job in retail.
“I just work at Target," Phillips said. "Nothing crazy. I’ve been working there for about four years now. It pays the bills. It pays for tuition, so I don’t mind it too much."
However, students aren’t the only ones working over the summer.
Ryan Fogt, a professor in the department of geography and director of the Scalia Lab for Atmospheric Analysis, spoke about his summer plans.
“My typical summer plans are to catch up on research, really," Fogt said. "I don’t get as much research done as I would like over the academic year when I’m teaching, and so I spent much of my summer time trying to catch up on research.”
When Fogt isn’t spending his time researching, he enjoys the summer downtime with his family.
“I make it more of an effort to spend time with my family," Fogt said. "My family is also off of their school and so there’s a lot more flexibility. We’ll take a vacation."
In addition to researching and spending time with family, Fogt spends some time travelling for work, including a recent trip to Italy.
“And so the summer allows me a lot of flexibility to go to these places that are far away and spend more time kind of really immersing with different people that are there, and learning from them … ” Fogt said.
Like Fogt, Phillips also intends to travel this summer, with her travels taking her to Maine, Pennsylvania and Hocking Hills.
“I’m definitely looking forward to Maine the most,” Phillips said. “We were supposed to go back in 2020, but then COVID hit, so I’m really excited to go there and go whale watching, have some good food and then visit the National Parks over there.”
The summer can also provide students with the time to cross off any bucket list items. For Phillips, that's hiking 130 miles worth of trails.
“A friend of mine, we’re trying to hit every single trail in Cuyahoga Valley National Park," Phillips said. "There’s around, I think, 130 miles of trails that we’re going to try to complete this year."
Phillips has noticed summer break in college has afforded her more freedom than summer break in high school.
“I definitely have a lot more freedom with the camping stuff," Phillips said. "That’s all plans that my friends and I made together without, you know, any input from my parents or anything like that.”
Although he is looking forward to the downtime summer affords, Fogt noted some aspects of the school year are easily missed.
“I do miss being around the students," Fogt said. "And so when we get back together in the fall, it's always fun because there’s so much energy.”
In the meantime, Athens slows down while awaiting students’ return in the fall.
“I love the quiet of Athens, the city is a very different vibe you feel over the summer compared to what it looks like in an academic year,” Fogt said.
