It's been said that after the Fourth of July, the first day of school begins to loom a little larger. The calendar seems to sprout wings, adding extra cylinders as it races toward August.
For our student-athletes, summer always comes with a co-partner. Football players spend countless hours beneath the bench press bar. Track season has already blended into cross country, where river parking passes become essential. Softball and volleyball players say goodbye to their club teams and prepare to don the Golden Bear uniforms once again.


Sun-tanned or not, July loses the meaning it once had for those of us who are "old school", when it simply marked the halfway point of beach days, sandy feet, and soaking up the sun. Even though the temperatures remain somewhere between bake and broil, calendar days begin disappearing with a little more urgency—and with either anticipation or anxiety, depending on the individual.


Summer camps are everywhere. They're wonderful for the kids and, if we're being honest, a welcome break for the parents. Maybe camps are the answer to the boundless energy teenagers possess—a chance to wear them out so that midnight texting is replaced by snoring with their feet propped up.

Ready or not, in just over a month an umpire somewhere on campus will call, "Play ball!" Someone is already loading the cross country starting guns and measuring race courses. The smack of a volleyball can almost be heard without much imagination, and it's hard to think about fall sports without picturing that first football sailing through the night air after foot meets leather.


If you haven't noticed, sports—and school in general—are one big circle. Many of you received cross country texts before the final track results had even been filed away. We've all heard the saying that championships are often built during the offseason, and there's more truth in that than we'd like to admit.
Even our campus is enjoying its own offseason makeover. Construction crews have calendars to watch as well, and their deadlines seem to accelerate just as quickly as ours once July reaches the halfway point.


Perhaps that's why this time of year brings split concentration. Prop your feet up. Enjoy the slower mornings. Read another chapter. Take another trip. Savor these days a little longer, because things become more precious when you know their ending is drawing near.

Still, how lucky are we?

To walk across a beautiful campus. To see students arrive polished and smiling, dressed in khakis and uniforms. To enjoy facilities that somehow keep getting better. To watch another generation of student-athletes trade swimsuits for practice gear and prepare to represent something bigger than themselves.

All is well.

Let's do this.

Again.

Go Bears!