It does not take getting blasted by an ominous monsoon storm to realize why we love to be stuck in Tucson for the summer.

Well, all right. I'll be frank. Being left behind by most of the student body and faculty during the three most miserable months of Arizona sucks. Well, maybe we just think it does.

If you are like me, you are probably receiving postcards from friends off lollygagging about Europe or roadtripping across the country because they, like most others, have a three-month block with nothing on the calendar. Emails from friends and family back home give you reason to get up in the morning and face another blazing 100+ degree day.

But fellow summer schoolers and Tucson summer workaholics, it is about time we take an account of all the benefits we are granted by being here and now.

For instance, the other day I decided to go to the Integrated Learning Center. Not because I needed to do research in the library or was dying to check my e-mail ("I am having the greatest time in Amsterdam·blah, blah, blah·"), but because it is the one place nearby with air conditioning. That's right, it is that time of season when the swamp cooler starts blowing in warm air that smells musty, like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, and the ILC is the perfect place (where you don't have to buy anything to "hang out") to chill on a weekday afternoon. The summertime ILC is peaceful, existing in a slice of time where the computer commons aren't active, ongoing war zones. If you want a computer, you don't have to possess the fast-twitch reflexes usually required to stake a claim, which are usually painfully seldom and occur the instant someone at a computer reaches for their bag.

But, anyway, the point of this story is that I found a parking spot in a Zone 1 lot, and I even have a Zone 1 permit. I am a student who rides my bike to school every day, but has a parking permit for emergencies only, like when you need to quickly turn in a paper or pick up your bike because it has a flat.

Jessica Lee

Parking is definitely the top benefit of being a summer school student. But running a close second are the lines that do not exist: no lines at the bookstore, the Administration building, the Student Union, the coffee stands. And we can walk right into the weight room in the Student Recreation Center at 5 p.m.

Now you know what I'm talking about. We are lucky to be going to a university with tens of thousands of students and the atmosphere of a tiny community college.

At noon, we can actually walk across the mall without having to wind in and out of a human obstacle course, which during the semester can turn into a veritable gauntlet. Without pesky pedestrians hurtling across all the streets and sidewalks, we can all ride our bikes like we've been wanting to our entire scholastic life ÷ with demonic speed, we can whip around corners and blast through the center of campus.

And when it is time to lock up, we don't have to hunt for a spot on the rack.

I'm telling you, life is great off campus too. When was the last time you could get a table without waiting at Frog & Firkin during Happy Hour on Friday? What about dollar Coronas at Fat Tuesdays or no cover at O'Malley's (sometimes, anyway)?

Where else in the country can we wear tank tops and shorts all night and day, go hiking by moonlight, or camp without a sleeping bag?

We are enduring the heat and havoc to finish classes in four weeks, with teachers who also think it sucks to be here, and doing internships so we can graduate and move on and away.

But, that's the wrong attitude to have. Being stuck here in the Ol' Pueblo is kinda nice when you think about what campus life will be like in less than a month.

Next time class gets out two hours early, take a seat on the mall, stretch out, grab a book and relax. This is our vacation and the only thing that can and will take it away is the mass of 20,000 students who will ungratefully destroy the summer school life we have come to love.