By Claire Burnett, Current Features Editor
As the school year comes to an end, many students are looking forward to their three months off of school. With that much free time, it can be difficult to find ways to occupy your time during the summer vacation. If you’re unsure of what to do this summer, here is a list of six ideas for what to do during the summer.
- Spending time with friends and family
- Taking time for yourself
- Going on vacation
- Keeping up with your academics
- Picking up a new hobby or sport
- Enjoying the summer weather
One of the best ways you could enjoy your summer is by spending time with your friends and family. During the school year, it is difficult to make room in your schedule to hang out with friends due to school and extracurriculars, so summer provides the perfect opportunity to catch up with loved ones.
Some students like to hang out with their friends at restaurants, local beaches, basketball courts, skating rinks, and many other places. It could also be as simple as spending time with each other or having them sleep over at your house.
Taking time for yourself is also a popular yet important activity during summer. Everyone is so busy during the school year, that it is nice to practice self-care by relaxing, sitting outside, or watching your favorite movie or TV show. Freshman Veer Tuliani commented “I plan to do a lot of reading! I just got the Harry Potter book set last month so I’m going to enjoy myself with those.” With stress from school and your social life, stepping back and doing things for yourself like skin care, cooking a meal, playing video games, or taking a nap can be a relief.
For those who have the means to, taking a vacation allows you to explore a new place and somewhere that is different from where you live. With more people getting the COVID vaccine, travel is starting to open back up again, so a three month period of time is the perfect time to visit new places. Some students choose to travel to closer destinations, like Ocean City or Deep Creek Lake, while others choose to take further trips to other countries like Spain, Brazil, or England.
Furthermore, such a long period of time with no school can cause people to lose knowledge and skills that they have acquired from the school year. In order to prevent the loss of information, it is recommended to do activities to keep up and expand with your knowledge. Veer added, “As we get closer to the new school year brushing up on my academic skills would be a good idea.” Some great ways to do this are to complete the summer math packet, read a book, watch educational videos relating to what you have learned, and play educational games. Although this may not be a popular activity during the summer time, it is an important one.
Also, the summer is a great time to pick up a new hobby or sport. With fall sport tryouts occurring at the end of summer, the period of time before that is a great chance to try a new sport and continue practicing if you decide you like the sport. You could also pick up a new hobby like drawing, baking, gardening, or photography because you have plenty of time during the summer to get better at your new hobby.
Finally, summer provides a nice warm temperature that you could enjoy by sitting outside, taking a walk, or having a picnic. Be sure to enjoy the warm weather while it lasts because before you know it, the weather will be cool yet again.
Overall, this brief list provides a few ideas of how you could spend your three month summer vacation, but it is your time away from school, so you should spend it however you enjoy.