Summer is now in full swing, so I imagine most students have re-adjusted to their routine back at home, away from Bowling Green.

Not me. I have lived in this town for 21 years, and I am used to almost everything it has to offer.

Whenever I got hungry, I would usually grab pizza from Pisanello’s Pizza or breadsticks from Campus Pollyeyes, and I would often top it all off with an Oreo-laced Blizzard from Myles Dairy Queen.

One thing that I didn’t pay much attention to while growing up is how unique each of these places are; many of them are solely located in the Bowling Green area. Whenever I would visit another town’s Dairy Queen, they definitely lacked the same vibe Chip Myles brought to it with the extra large servings of ice cream.

When I decided to move into the dorms my freshman year of college, a common topic of conversation would be how neat each of these places were. It was especially fun being the go-to guy for any new activity.

When the time came for me to think about my first topic for In Focus, I had a bit of a problem. First, I simply wanted to do a section about cool things students could do here during the summer until I realized our summer editions spend many pages doing just that.

Then I thought about many of my friends who were leaving town for the summer, and realized that many of them would frequent these places if they stuck around.

Growing up in Bowling Green has taught me the students provide more than extra traffic for the school year. They also provide an entire demographic of consumers, workers and congregation members, among many other roles.

A lot of this has to do with the proximity many of these places have with campus. As a townie, I was still lucky enough to live in the dorms, and it was extremely easy to reach Dairy Queen, Subway and St. Aloysius Church.

In fact, Campus Pollyeyes got its name because of its proximity to BGSU, not because of any formal affiliation. As I would learn from doing my first article for In Focus, an affiliation was built between the restaurant and the students who frequented it.

It’s important for establishments around town to establish a rapport with students and community members alike. In many ways, it’s like a crossroads of cultures, with students in their early twenties meeting up with families, where members range from small children to wiser elders.

But more important than age is experience. BGSU has people from all over the country (as well as other countries) with different backgrounds and experiences, and these places are a great gateway for the community and students alike to expand on these.

I have been fortunate enough to call myself a member of both camps, and with a fair number of students staying in town for the summer, the meeting of minds continues on a smaller scale.