Summer Collin

I’ve begun to notice something about myself over the past few years. When the weather turns warmer and the days bring us closer to May, something very strange happens to me… a transformation, you could say.

Most of the year, I am like a tootsie pop. The academic year has a tendency to grow on me like a hard candy shell made of responsibility and obligation that drives me to work hard and worry about doing well. However, at my center is a chewy, yummy burst of happy-go-lucky tootsie roll.

Throughout the year, glimpses of this jovial center will no doubt shine through (I’m not, after all, a robot… even though I’m pretty sure I would make an awesome robot). Normally, however, my soft chewiness stays under control, balanced by a sense of duty.

But as it gets closer to summer, the duties of life begin to feel lighter as the warm Spring sun begins to lick away at the hard candy shell and there’s only one question left to ask: How many licks does it take? (Click here to reminisce.)

A name has developed for the energetic center that bursts into life around summertime: Summer Collin. Summer Collin is crazy and out-of-control. He’s been known to ignore social boundaries, smile at and hug complete strangers, frolic, stay up all night, and laugh uncontrollably at his own jokes. If you think I’m exaggerating, you’ve obviously never met Summer Collin.