Well holy cow, that was fast. Summer was like a sweet, savory glass of apple juice on a hot day. You’ve been waiting so long for it to be consumed, and within a blink the satisfaction ends.

Summer, you rascal you. Went way to fast. And no, that is not an exaggeration.

When you usually hear people say, “Ugh, summer went by way to fast,” they you usually mean it in a very colorless way. They didn’t want it to end, didn’t want to worry about finals or labs, didn’t want to leave home.

Now, I can’t say I was dreading either of those things. Do not mistake me but I wasn’t flung-over-the-sun ecstatic to be back in Iowa City.

Summer ends, and as wise people tell me, everything good has to come to an end. Which is very dark and morbid, but I think it leads us to better and brighter things. There comes to a point in my summers that I’m in too much of a routine or looking for a switch-up of some sort. Plain and simply, I get bored. Not because I hate being home or despise my hometown friends, I just don’t care for having no tasks to do. People will take this as me being an over-achiever in school due to my nonexistent love for homework and exams (don’t even get me started on French), but really I just dislike twiddling my thumbs all day.

I don’t like homework but nor do I despise it. College homework truly tests your comprehension of the material and I try to take it as a challenge a day at a time. I would be lying to you if I said I was great at everything academically and had no hiccups along the way. And as I said earlier, I like to have some tasks or something to push me to get stuff done otherwise I’m a sloth that does nothing but waste fresh air.

Finally, I never like leaving home. Missouri Valley is such a special place in my heart. I’d say the town made me who I am today, but that would be fake news. The reasons I am who I am today are the people of Missouri Valley. Always willing to lend a hand when in times of need and keep you pushing as if you were about to fall back. Leaving my family is always the hardest part. I have been lucky enough to have great role models in my family, that even includes my younger sister. They all teach me things and prove that you can get through whatever if you look at things with the glass half-full perspective.

School as been going well so far for my sophomore year here at Iowa. I’m in an apartment close to downtown Iowa City, which is still one of my favorite places on this earth. As much as it sucked to leave my family, I know that I’m happy to be back here at the University of Iowa. I’m confident that they are too.

Here’s to a great sophomore year,

Derek Hansen