Until the last test is handed in on Friday, almost all Oklahoma State students are likely to be doing one thing: studying. Once that final bubble is filled in, no such generalization can be made.
Within a few weeks after leaving class on Friday, students will spread across the four corners of the Earth.
Once the rigors of academia no longer regulate them in Stillwater, students will do everything under the sun to fill their summer calendar.
This list of summer plans varies from trips to exotic locations, working summer camp and even trading in this semester’s textbooks for one or two back home.
In only a short time after walking the stage and accepting his diploma, Jeremy Acord will trade in that slip of paper for a backpack and the experience of a lifetime.
“I am going to be taking a trip to Europe,” said Acord, a mechanical and aerospace engineering senior. “[It is] just something to do after graduation and a break from school.”
Once a friend suggested the trip, Acord decided that a trek through Europe was the perfect reward for all his hard work during the past couple of years.
Acord, along with three other graduates, will backpack all over Europe without any real care in the world.
He said that’s what he is looking forward to most.
“Not having any school or work responsibilities and going to see the scenery and sights [are probably the best things about the trip],” Acord said.
Like Acord, Tyler Van Arsdale’s summer plans will take him across an ocean, but that is where the similarities stop.
“I am going to Japan for two weeks with the Wings of Rotary,” Van Arsdale, a business sophomore, said. “I will be a student adviser.”
Van Arsdale, who was president of the Asian culture club at his high school and has been a part of The Wings of Rotary for several years, got the opportunity to travel to Japan from the district leader of the program.
The group will stay with host families in Northern Japan for two weeks.
“We will just be touring the area,” Van Arsdale said. “[We will be] going to museums, temples, gardens and other things like that.”
For Sarah Cravey, the summer gives her an opportunity to improve herself and the lives of others.
“This summer, I am taking summer courses and going to Guatemala on a mission trip,” said Cravey, a political science and Spanish junior.
The mission trip is organized through her boyfriend’s Lutheran church in Claremore.
The church group will make the week-and-a-half-long trip to Guatemala a whirlwind experience.
“In Guatemala we will be having vacation bible school for kids there,” Cravey said. “There are also a lot of people that live in dumps down there so we will be building them houses, serving meals and bringing them essential items they need.”
Cravey is excited about the whole opportunity but is especially ready for one aspect of it in particular.
“I am looking forward to doing the vacation bible school with the students particularly because I am a Spanish major, so I am really interested in that,” Cravey said.
Suzanne Hannay might not be traveling to an exotic location but she will still make a difference.
During the hot summer months Hannay will work in Arkansas at Camp War Eagle.
Hannay, an agricultural business freshman who has never worked at a summer camp, got the idea earlier this semester.
“They [camp representatives] came here to recruit. They came to our house [Chi Omega] and talked to us about it,” Hannay, said. “It sounded really interesting.”
As a counselor at the camp she will have a wide range of duties ranging from overseeing about twelve girls to life guarding during the day.
The job is much more than a summer paycheck to her.
“Well, I hope I can maybe influence the girls in a good way,” Hannay said. “They are young and they need good role models.”
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