Here at ThinkTalk, we've been talking about graduation quite a bit over the last few weeks. With graduations scattered all across calendars nationwide, it has been difficult to judge how many of you have started exams, completed them or moved on. As of Saturday, it was mid-May 2010, which in my book means it's fair game to start talking in terms of summer.

Some of you will find yourselves working harder and getting up earlier than you ever did during the school year while others have been afforded the luxury of sleeping later and finally being able reach maximum chill out levels. Whichever side of the fence you are on, I would like to remind you of the awesome opportunities that summer affords. Yes, there are the internships and summer courses to work through, but there is also this refreshing energy that comes with summertime. Six to eight weeks where you can spend time focused, not on your overloaded class schedule, but on you, as a person, and your own improvement and happiness. So I ask you this question: what is on your Summer Bucket List?

If you aren't familiar with the concept of a bucket list, the brief definition is "a list of things to do before one dies." Just to clear things up, I'm not blogging about death today, but I am talking about the eventual end of your summer. What things do you hope to do or accomplish by then?

I know from experience that the freedom of summertime can very easily slip through one's fingers. I held a number of summer retail positions during my freshman and sophomore years. A lot of times I didn't have to be at work until 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon which means that more often than not, I slept or lounged around my house until 12PM. By the time I got off work at 9 or 10PM and met up with my friends, my entire day had been spent in a non productive minimum wage fashion. By the end of the summer I felt great about having some extra money in my bank account, but always felt like maybe I could have done more to enjoy my summer or prepare for the new school year. There was sightseeing I could have done in my hometown, interesting articles I could have read, news stories I could have followed, interesting people that could have been met, and of course, some career planning I could have done.

I never made a summer bucket list, but I wish I had. It's been said that "youth is wasted on the young" and I certainly don't want you to feel like that come August. So my suggestion is to make a list, say 25-50 things that you hope to accomplish by the end of the summer. They can be really small or really big. I've always wanted to bake my own birthday cake and build a model car on my own; these are things I think are fine to add to the list.

See, it doesn't really matter what you add to the list as much as it matters how accomplishing the list will make you feel. The summer bucket list is a great idea for two reasons that I can readily think of. First, because no matter how small, having a sense of accomplishment boost your confidence. Setting small goals and getting them done can give you the ego and energy boost you need to tackle the larger hurdles in life. Secondly, completing your summer bucket list will ensure that you will at least get SOME things done this summer besides working on your tan and establishing a summer romance. (Not that there is anything wrong with either).

If you plan on adding something creative to your summer bucket list we would love to hear about it. Leave us a comment, and if it's super cool, you might find yourself mentioned in a future blog post. In the meantime, get out there and start living!

"Hammock 1." courtesy Ashley R. Good via Flickr Creative Commons