There’s something rather unusual about finishing uni for the summer. One moment, you’re cramming for exams on four hours of sleep and surviving on leftover pesto pasta, and the next, you’re back in your childhood bedroom, slightly yearning for the strange comfort of hungover lectures and lukewarm library coffee. Stockholm Syndrome? Maybe.
Meanwhile, everyone else seems to be backpacking through Europe or thriving in some dream internship, while you’re in your hometown pondering whether it’s too early for your third iced coffee of the day.
If summer has left you feeling a strange mixture of freedom, boredom, and on the verge of a very low-stakes identity crisis, do not fear. This is your ultimate summer survival guide.
Romanticise the boring days
Part of the weirdness that comes along with the university summer break is the all too real post-exam crash. You spend weeks dreaming of freedom, only to feel strangely overwhelmed the moment it arrives.
But here’s the trick: Instead of spiralling, try romanticising the weirdly empty days.
Make a ritual of your iced coffee. Take the time to paint your nails. Take long, aimless walks with a dramatic playlist and imagine you’re in a romcom.
Get a job (or at least apply for some)
We all know the struggle of trying to find a summer job during the university break. There’s not exactly a queue of employers lining up to hire an inexperienced university student for three months.
You either apply for to 38 roles on Indeed only to hear back from exactly none, or somehow secure yourself a soul-sapping job at the local pub. But even so, this can save your sanity. It gives you a reason to get out of the house, even if it is just to serve pints for eight hours.
Not ready for employment just yet? No problem. Spend a day redoing your CV then reward yourself with a three-hour break.
Book a holiday
If you’re lucky enough to be jetting off to a sunny country this summer, congrats. But if not, no need to panic, you can still reclaim some of that holiday feeling without getting on a Ryanair flight.
Plan a day trip to a coastal town near you. Hop on a train, bring some snacks and your favourite book, and off you go.
While it might not be Ibiza, it’s definitely enough to stop you forgetting what day of the week it is.
Escape reality and go to a festival
Nothing feels like you’re making the most of your summer break and time away from university quite like paying £200 to sleep in a muddy field and getting a bad sunburn.
For a few days, you can escape your responsibilities and rave to a raging baseline with your friends. It’s basically a rite of passage as a uni student, and at the very least, will certainly give you something to talk about when you head back home.
Trying to cope with ‘everyone is doing more than me’ syndrome
Why go on holiday when you can chill with your dog all summer?
If scrolling Instagram this summer feels like watching a highlight reel of everyone else’s Best Life
, know you’re not alone. Suddenly, every flatmate you’ve ever known is inter-railing through Europe, launching a podcast, or doing an internship that suspiciously screams “LinkedIn-core”.
Comparison is basically the national sport of summer. But let’s be real, no one’s posting the part where they got food poisoning in Prague or cried mid-shift while folding jeans in silence.
So instead of spiralling, try to remember (and yes, this sounds painfully parental) that literally no one is doing as well as they make it look online.
Sure, someone else might be in the Sahara Desert – but you just made elite-level beans on toast and remembered to drink water. Who’s really winning?
Become weirdly obsessed with something
Summer is long, strange, and often a bit plotless. So why not lean into it? Pick one incredibly specific thing and make it your entire personality for the next few weeks: Greek mythology, early 2010s YouTube drama, training to become a barista in your own kitchen. The options are endless.
It doesn’t need to be productive or impressive, in fact, the weirder the better. The point isn’t to master something useful. It’s to entertain your brain long enough that you stop Googling “what should I do with my life?”.
Ultimately, while summer may not be the continuous, cinematic montage you fantasised about during exam season, that doesn’t mean it’s a complete write-off. So make the most of it, and enjoy the chaos, boredom, and niche obsessions.
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