We all know that song that we sing on the last day of school: “No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks.”

But before you toss all your school papers, binders and notes into the center of the school hallway and skipping, hopping and frolicking at the thought of summer…don’t forget that school starts again in the fall.

For some of you that means starting college. That means a new school, new classmates and maybe even a new city. 

So here’s some non-painstaking things that you can do during your summer vacation to prep for college. They are so easy that you can do them while your sipping lemonade by the side of the pool.

Summer reading: Reading during the summer is a great way to keep your brain from turning to complete mush.

These are some of the books that the incoming 2008 classes of college freshmen have been assigned:

• Case Western Reserve University — The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution by David Quammen. In honor of Darwin’s 200th birthday.
• University of Washington — The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. Follows 26 men who in 2001 attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona.
• The College of Wooster — A Long Way Home: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. The author will give an address on campus on September 18.
• Clark University — The Travels of a T-Shirt in a Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power and Politics of World Trade by Pietra Rivoli.
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County — The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.
• Seton Hall University — Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza.
• Bates College — Selections include Omnivore’s Dilemma, and In Defense of Food, both by Michael Pollan, who will visit campus in October.
• Colorado College — The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin.

Brush up on your research skills: Instead of going to the library, dusting off some old books and researching Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter, if you are going to a college out of state, research your new city. You can find out about local eats, cool coffee shops, neighborhoods and museums you want to explore or whatever you’re into. Not only will you be prepared when it comes time to do some research for an essay, you’ll be a freshman in the know of all the cool places to hang out.

Try new things: Do something you’ve always been interested in but never had the time to do. Join an archeological dig, take a photography class, make a film or try a new sport. You might find out something you really like and that might inspire you to take an elective class in something you didn’t know you’re into. Or it might get you to join a club or an association, where you’ll have a chance to meet new kinds of people because you haven’t done that activity before.

So you see, college prep in the summer can be way more fun than just sitting at your desk. So get out there and have fun. And shhh, we won’t tell anyone that you are learning too.