It’s no question that there is a plethora of negative news circling the world today. However, humans are resilient, which allows people to make good with what they can. Despite the many universal hardships over the summer, members of the Albion College community embody humanity’s innate resiliency, bringing no shortage of positive stories back to campus with them from the summer.
Abby Bork, a senior from Grand Rapids, Mich., found much more free time this summer. Wanting to find a way to have fun with it, she visited a local a drive-in movie theater.
“I was on unemployment the whole summer. So, I was just trying to stay safe while not spending a lot of money, and I went to the drive-in movie theater more than ten times,” said Bork.
While Bork found herself creating new hobbies, Duncan Doebler, a sophomore from Grand Ledge, Mich., had the opportunity to pick up an old hobby.
“I used to skateboard a lot, but didn’t have the patience for it,” said Doebler.
The summer allotted Doebler more time to hone his skills on the board and renew the enjoyment he once had with skateboarding.
Other students, like Jaden Deibel, a first-year, from Grand Ledge, Mich., found enjoyment in the additional opportunities they had to spend time with family. Deibel got to see her relatives from Arizona.
“We don’t get to see them a lot, but they had the time because they were working remotely,” said Deibel. “We got to see them for most of the summer, which was really cool.”
Although many jobs and businesses utilized remote work for employees over the summer, that wasn’t the case for some people. Olivia Lorenzoni, a junior, from Kingsford, Mich., worked at veterans hospitals throughout the summer, which led to an unexpected surprise.
“They had a storage unit filled with girl scout cookies, and they needed to use the room. So, they gave us all their cookies, and every single time we would walk in there, they were just pushing Thin Mints on us,” said Lorenzoni.
While work provided one student with a nice surprise, others worked on getting something special. Daphne Thompson, a junior, from Erie, Pa., used her summer freetime to convince her parents to get a new dog before the fall semester started. Thompson’s parents agreed to getting the dog but did not initially agree to the timeline she had in mind.
“My parents said yes, but I had to get him as I was going to school, and I was like, ‘No, no, no. He needs to get used to me and be comfortable,’”said Thompson. “I was determined to get him.”
Thanks to Thompson, her family now owns Banjo, a labrador dotson.
Meanwhile, Mady Laber, a sophomore from Howell, Mich., found a way to use additional free time to fuel spontaneity, specifically with regard to traveling.
“I haven’t seen my aunt in ten years,” said Laber. “She moved down to Alabama. My mom and I were sitting there one day and said, ‘Why don’t we just go down there?’ And the next day we drove fifteen hours to see her.”
Albion College and its students have long been known for their creativity and innovation. These students provide just a few examples of ways Albion students made the most out of this very different summer.
The creativity, enthusiasm and spontaneity helped all of these students make it through the summer in one way or another. Adopting a similar mindset going into this unprecedented semester can help the population on campus make the most out of their time here at Albion this fall as well.
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