It can last anywhere from a day to as long as three months. In the grand spectrum of things, however, it is nothing more than a brief moment in our lives.

This “it” is a fling; but unlike most, the summer fling is a bit different. Most flings are driven by lust.

The word fling in itself holds a pessimistic and almost depressing standpoint. Anything that is deemed a fling is already established as temporary.

Right from the beginning, we know that it is only a matter of time before the fling will end. With any other fling, we are only in it to get what we want, but for some reason the summer fling has been set apart from the rest.

The summer fling is a timeless tradition in which teenagers will hook up, but with a different four-letter “L” word in mind.

Summer flings are done in the name of love. As cheesy as that may sound, it’s true. It is more often then not a serendipitous act, a “fools rush in” kind of moment.

I will never forget my first summer fling. It was the summer before high school. I was a dashing young lad. By that I mean I was strange, insecure and awkward around girls. I was as close to them as any gay man could get to a woman.

This girl was clearly out of my league, or so I thought at the time.

We met through a mutual friend at TRL. No, not the MTV show, but Teens Roseville Live. It is basically like grad night, but it is put up by the city once a month. I was being my crazy self with my friends, not noticing her one bit. For some reason, she liked my hyper-persona.

The incredible thing about flings is that they give us the opportunity to be somebody else. The summer fling, however, allows us to be ourselves with this other person. Some people will claim that they are themselves around everyone. To those people I say a sarcastic “whatever.”

What lets you be yourself with your new-found temporary love is that he or she will probably never see you again when it ends. More importantly, that person is already hanging out with you for being you. Your time together is short, and like the beginning of a relationship, you only see the positives of the person.

So is this worth your time? Freshman music major Jennifer Ponath said, “It’s up to the person to decide if it’s worth the time.” Still, others might need to examine what they’re looking for in a relationship.

When it comes to relationships you can never have too much experience and a summer fling can help.

“You learn about relationships (from summer flings),” Ponath said.

The summer fling gives you a better idea of what you want out of dating. It will expose you to conversing with those you are interested in.

Above all, it will expose you to the idea of falling in love. It is exposure to the fact that someone could fall in love with you, and that even you, with all the doubt in your head, could fall in love with someone.

This is what sets the summer fling apart. With the passing of time, the face of my summer fling begins to blur, but the things I learned and experienced have never been clearer. It may have been short, but it sure was sweet.

Mikhail Chernyavsky can be reached at [email protected].