When life gives you lemons, use your textbook buyback money to buy oranges instead.

The disappointment of not seeing a great big crowd-pleaser of a headliner booked to perform at the University of Maine this semester has begun to fade. With so few weeks left in the term, it’s time to let go of our grudges and channel that energy into something positive, like preparing for finals, finding summer jobs and making housing arrangements for the upcoming academic year. In the grand scheme of things, the money you might have dropped on a semi-satisfying concert ticket could be better spent on gas, groceries, rent or — wait — How about choosing from a host of diverse event options that will be within a reasonable driving distance of anywhere in our great state, over the course of the summer?

Chances are slim that booking one big show in a given semester would please a majority, or even half, of students, whereas the strong and diverse talent that will be visiting Maine — primarily Portland and Bangor — during the window of our summer break is sure to offer at least one show each varying listener would find wholly worthwhile. From hipsters to metal heads, cowpokes to alt-rockers, folksters to children of the ’90s, UMaine students will not want for good music, so long as they’re willing to travel at least as far as Bangor’s Waterfront.

On top of the panoply of concerts scheduled to be performed at the Waterfront and at Portland’s State Theatre, the Bangor Daily News will be sponsoring, developing and executing 12 events over the course of the summer, which might also merit attendance from those with related interests. The BDN’s event schedule — which features events also primarily held in Bangor and Portland — includes several comedy routines, as well as sports, food and fashion-themed exhibitions and festivities. For some time, Maine, tucked up in its own corner of the country, was off the beaten path for headliners such as Sting and Kenny Chesney. A lack of adequate audience and suitable venues subjected many Mainers to head to Boston for bigger and better things. Now, depending on the weekend and your interests, comedians, artists and musicians are figuring out why we all have stayed here this long.

Here’s the bottom line: A lack of university-sponsored entertainment this season doesn’t mean that opportunities are scarce, nor that information regarding these events is hard to come by. Rather than resign yourself to a summer vacation laden with listless Netflix-ing and hitting the same old bars every night of the week, reach out — you won’t have to reach very far — and grab hold of something a bit more extraordinary. Try to ensure that by the fall, you’ll be all tuckered out and ready to settle back into a routine. Your future self will thank you.