BY ABBY TANEN, JUNIOR EDITOR

The idea of spending the summer in DC brings up mixed opinions among the Wilson student body. Some think the idea of staying at home is dull and lacking adventure; others enjoy the opportunity to be schedule-free and relaxed.

The pros to a DC summer are numerous. For one, “your hair looks good in humidity – nourished and voluptuous,” junior Sophie McDowell points out. With the free time that spending the summer at home entails, you have plenty of time to stay outside, soaking up the sun, perfecting your tan, and nourishing your hair.

“I’m pretty pumped to not have any schedule and do whatever I want,” says junior Nicky Swanson Hutchison. Having spent last summer working at a camp, Swanson Hutchinson simply wants to spend his time this summer the way he wants, and who can blame him?

DC is no ordinary place to spend your time. Of all the places to be ‘stuck’ for the summer, our city is a great candidate. Spending the Fourth of July in the capital is that of disliking Walls kids when you go to Wilson, it simply goes together. On the fourth, DC has a National Independence Day Parade, fireworks on the national mall, ‘A Capitol Fourth’ concert on the mall, a Smithsonian Folklife Festival at the National Museum of the American Indian, an Independence Day Ice Cream Social at Tudor Place,  a Fourth of July block party just steps outside the White House, and more!

Finally, while your friends are posting Instas from Rome, you will be posting pics from Rome Pizza and Sub, where you’re working for the summer. While at the time it can seem uninteresting, in two months when school starts back up and you’re buying Whole Foods sushi every day for lunch, it won’t seem dull at all.

However there are reasons to scurry away from the district as the temperature rises. Those of us who are not Phineas and Ferb face the fear that we “might end up doing the same thing every day,” says junior Maude LaVaute. It is pretty easy to fall into the same pattern when all you have is free time. Even the best schedules such as wakeup, pool, ice cream, TV, bed can get redundant and boring. If you’re not motivated to switch it up, you can end up without anything fun to do, listless, and this can even result in missing school, which is a scary thought.

We all have those friends who come back from backpacking in Europe and are all ‘What did you do this summer?’ The true response is “I sat on my butt,” which at the time wasn’t that bad, but now that you’re hearing about sleeping in hostels and touring Amsterdam, your summer starts to seem a tad dreary. “You hear about people’s adventures when they come back that you didn’t experience because you were sitting home watching Orange is the New Black,” says junior Sophie McDowell.

Lastly, vacations are fun! It’s a great idea to see new places and spend some quality time with family and friends.

So whether you’re taking off or staying local, rest assured that either way is an awesome option. We know our tigers are going to have some really great adventures this summer and we cannot wait to hear about them next fall!

PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS