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Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025
The Eagle

Summer flings can burn like a day at the beach without the right SPF

By BLAIR BRYANT NICHOLS

Eagle Staff Writer

Psychologists define state-dependent memory as "learning that takes place in one situation or 'state' that is generally better remembered later in a similar situation or state." Apparently, this can apply to physical, emotional and environmental states.

Though I learned about this back in AP Psychology, I was never really sure I believed that you could experience something drunk or high and only remember it when you returned to inebriation. All of that changed when the summer started and I began to become intoxicated by the long days, hot, sticky nights and the freedom of decreased responsibility.

We all know that we behave differently in the summer. If you're lucky, there are no classes, only part-time jobs and 9-5 internships. The nights are free to party with friends and weekends are spent fleeing to the beach. With so little to trouble our sun-soaked minds we feel ready to tackle our love life head on, whether it's reigniting an old flame from home, finally settling into a relationship or improving our bed-hopping skills.

At the end of my first summer in D.C., I met a boy and unintentionally homo-wrecked his relationship. Our affair faded quickly in the fall, but the summer heat had already done its damage. It blinded my ability to see the potential emotional damage I would leave in my wake. Fast forward to last summer, and I returned from abroad to find that his relationship had not been rebuilt, so we tried for round two. It only took one date to remind me of the pain we had inflicted on each other and how incompatible I realized we were. I spent the rest of the summer avoiding his calls.

Last summer ended and I went abroad again in the fall. I came back last semester and barely a weekend

went by without a drunken text message or IM from my summer mistake, declaring his love for me. "We'll talk tomorrow," became my favorite response. But tomorrow's conversations never happened; Sobriety and silence seemed to go hand in hand. One night before the end of the semester, he declared that he would no longer be communicating. He deleted my number and my screenname.

It didn't bother me. I had too much to worry about anyway. But as I slipped into the summer, there seemed to be something missing - something I suddenly remembered wanting. I asked him out and we began to see each other again sporadically.

Then there was the click, the realization that even after two years, months in and out of the country, while I was growing and changing along the way, he was still the same person. And that person, no matter what the summer had made me feel, is not the one for me.

Luckily, this realization that history does not equate to compatibility accompanied another summer habit that does still suit my style. Though days and nights feel endless, the summer seems to pass so quickly. People are constantly coming and going and it seems only right to take advantage of every opportunity.

My opportunity was a very cute MBA student at NYU, passing through from Florida on his way to New York. It wasn't long before I accompanied him home to his hotel. There was just something about knowing he was leaving the next day that made it seem so urgent, like he was going off to war or was terminally ill; or perhaps it was just nice to know I'd never have to see him again.

We will experience things when our physical, emotional or environmental states have been altered. Though we think we remember everything that happened, sometimes it is only when we return to those states that the memories come flooding back.

Like wearing tanning oil with no SPF the first time you go to the beach, returning to a summer disaster can leave us feeling just as burned. Hook-ups and one night stands may not be a summer exclusive, but at least we can claim that the summer moon or stars or the heat from the bricks on the sidewalk left us no other option than to follow summer passion.


Section 202 hosts Connor Sturniolo and Gabrielle McNamee are joined by fellow Eagle staff member and phenomenal sports photographer, Josh Markowitz. Follow along as they discuss the United Football League and the benefits it provides for the world of professional football.


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