Student Realises Summer Holiday Plans Were Over-Ambitious

Bristol student Vic Romano was recently left feeling ashamed and inadequate after failing to achieve a single one of his holiday plans.

Before summer began, Vic had been telling fellow students that during his 5 month holiday he was going to help AIDS victims in Rwanda, teach himself Arabic, learn to play the guitar, set up his own website and read a selection of recognised ‘classics,’ as well as doing an internship in London which was ‘pretty much in the bag.’ After 4 and a half months, Vic hadn’t achieved a single one of his goals.

The prospect of facing his peers without having met a single one of his targets was a daunting one. “I thought I could maybe just make up some Arabic words, and nobody would know about the failed internship. But then I realised that people aren’t idiots. I’d be exposed. The only Arabic I know is from Team America, and I don’t think that it’s particularly accurate.” Vic didn’t know where to turn. “I recognised the fact that my plans were far too ambitious. In hindsight I would have been better off only picking one or two things to not end up doing. At least the subsequent disappointment and sense of unmitigated failure would have been slightly less crushing.”

Vic was nevertheless adamant that the summer hadn’t been a complete failure. “I completed 3 computer games on the hardest difficulty setting without resorting to online guides or hints pages once, and I saw every single World Cup game. I also nursed a baby sparrow that I found in our garden back to full health and learnt all the ingredients of Falafel.”

Vic has made a heartfelt appeal to fellow students in the same position. “The thing is, when you’re faced with the prospect of no more exams, you’re practically delirious with excitement, so you say stupid things. Then you realise the moment you’ve finished that being productive is the last thing in the world that you feel like. What am I honestly going to do, watch DVDs, get drunk and play crazy golf or sit down to read War and Peace?”

Vic is already making concrete plans for next summer, but this time he’s keeping it far more realistic. “I’m going to watch the Rambo trilogy and sell at least two items on eBay. I’m also hoping to do some work as a waiter for a couple of events. I already feel far more confident about achieving my goals. I’ll never make the same mistake again.” Vic is currently trying to explain his pointless summer to his friends, and is finding it extremely difficult. We wish him all the best.