For many Jumbos, a summer spent in Boston, sometime during the four years, is an inevitable and much-welcomed experience. You have an internship, you're taking summer classes, or you just couldn't find a subletter and needed an excuse to escape your parents' house.
Whatever the reason, the reality is that you are alone in your apartment on Sunset, College or Curtis Avenue and there is nothing, and I do mean nothing, going on at Tufts in the summer. Your only option is to trek to Davis (I recommend a car here in the summer, but it's not necessary) and go wherever the T takes you.
When I was here last summer, I took a summer class at BU. While I can't say much for the BU academic experience, I will tell you the perks at BU were worth it. Even as a part-time student, you get access the BU FitRec center, which features an Olympic-sized lap pool, a hot spa with "lazy river" (no, I'm not kidding), an indoor rock climbing wall and, get this, they have more than 10 treadmills, and they all work all the time!
Another perk of being a "BU student" is the summer athletic classes. For students (that includes part-time), classes average around $70-80 for six weeks, and for non-students they are only around $120. They have rock-climbing lessons, Pilates (on actual Pilates apparatuses), five different kinds of yoga, ballroom and belly dancing, rowing, sailing and more.
Last summer, being from the South and having never been on a sailboat in my life, my lack of common sense encouraged me to try my luck at jibbing up the Charles. There was only one near-capsize, which was witnessed by several Storrow Drive joggers, and I am thoroughly pleased I can now add "Captain" to my résumé. But really, those religious Sunday mornings on the sun-sparkling Charles - the neat rows of brownstones, the State House's gold dome casting light on the entire city and the reflection of the clouds in IM Pei's Hancock tower - are why I consider myself a Bostonian.
The A/C in my car went out as soon as I arrived in Boston, so I spent many July days melted into the seats of my Honda Accord, but being able to head to the beach on a hot summer day made it worthwhile. If you don't have access to a car in the summer, Zipcars are always an option, and some beaches are accessible by commuter rail.
Because my roommate last summer was a Mass. local, I spent most of my beach days in Gloucester. Manchester-by-the-Sea and Nahant beaches are closer, but man-made and quite rocky. The small Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester is a small cove with real sand, and it's never too crowded, so the travel is well worth it.
Even after the sun sets, the lack of A/C in the sauna that is your house makes it impossible not to go out. In addition to all the night spots I've mentioned in previous weeks (which, by the way, are better in the summer because they're less crowded), there are plenty of summer events in the city.
Fourth of July in Boston is essential for any summer Bostonian. But for a good weekly outdoor party, Dancing on the Charles is every Saturday night from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., beginning May 31 in the green space near the Eliot Bridge. Beer, BBQ and local DJs create a funky, unique block party vibe for the young and restless in the city.
So even if your friends are heading to New York or abroad, summer in Boston is an opportunity to have a summer fling with the city.
Robin Alberts-Marigza is a senior majoring in psychology. She can be reached at Robin.Alberts_Marigza@tufts.edu.
