End of the Academic Year Blues

I never know what to do with myself at the end of the academic year, especially since beginning graduate school. When I was an undergraduate, I would always be excited and look forward to the summer, which was spent reading novels and taking trips to visit friends and generally recovering from the stress of being an over-achieving honours student. Of course, the summers that occur in-between being a PhD student are completely different.

The summer between my master's degree and the beginning of my PhD was pretty much non-existent, because my master's degree didn't end until July 19 and moving takes so much work and energy. The summer between the first and second years of the PhD was also pretty stressful, because I took an Italian language class and had a lot of comprehensive examination revision to commence. This summer will be spent doing a Latin language class and more revision, as well as fleshing out my dissertation topic. I am feeling depressed because it was a very stressful, tumultuous year for me health-wise and I can feel that my body, mind, spirit and brain really need a break. Oh well, c'est la vie.

So how do I recuperate so I can face the challenges?