(June 14, 2007) — Forget lying on your towel on the warm beach sand or sleeping in until noon every day; this generation of students has redefined the meaning of summer. No longer do students look forward to a summer of exciting vacations or even lazy afternoons on the couch, but to one where they can catch up and get ahead in school. Students understand the difficulties of getting into a good university and are willing to do what it takes to get accepted, even if it means slaving away in SAT classes most of their summer. Junior Joanna Lee will spend her summer enrolled at the Elite Institute of learning in Los Angles. Every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30 to 6 p.m. she will be in a classroom preparing for the SATs in October. “I’m not looking forward to this summer because it’s going to be a lot of hard work,” Lee said. Lee is determined to get into a good university, having worked hard throughout her junior year with AP classes and extracurricular activities. “I want to do well in everything colleges look at, whether it be grades, community service or SATs,” she said. In these summer classes, Lee will be raising her score in the critical reading, writing and math sections of the SATs. Student enrolled in the class take one diagnostic test a week until a week before the October test. “It’s going to be hard knowing my friends are out at the beach while I’m at home studying,” Lee said. But she has volunteered to take the class and recommends other students do the same. “Summer vacation is for things students want to do and if students volunteer to take classes, that means they want to do it,” Lee said. Junior Christopher Mangasarian will also be taking SAT classes but he is excited for the two months of freedom from school. “No matter how bad SAT classes will be, it won’t be as hard and time consuming as regular school,” Mangasarian said. His goal for the summer is to raise his score and gain experience from an internship at an architecture firm in downtown L.A. For Mangasarian, summer is a chance to catch up on everything he missed out on during the year when he was cramming for his AP U.S. History test. Catching up includes preparing for tests that determine his future as well as hanging out with his friends in Pasadena. “It would be better if I could spend my entire summer having fun and devoting my time to internships, but I have to get my SATs out of the way,” Mangasarian said.