‘Summer vacation’ is a magical phrase that’s sure to make your eyes glowing, whether you’re a kid of 10 or an undergraduate. Of course, there’re some differences to it – while for kids summer means almost undiluted fun and games, college students have to think not only entertainment but their prospects as well. If you know what you want to do with your free time and how, you can make the most of it – to my mind, it’s probably the most important skill you’ll need in adult life!
Some years ago summer mostly got me bored out of my mind. Family sea trips kept growing tiresome, but no one except me seemed to wish for anything different. Then it dawned on me that I needn’t follow everyone – instead of just whiling away time I could learn to manage on my own; that’s when things began to look up.
Since then I’ve devoted my holidays to freelance jobs in my field of study – as an IT student, I did some web design and coding and that sort of thing; in my spare time I would join my friends in sci-fi book club meetings, go to art exhibitions and theater shows. Then we’d write some reviews about it and post it in our blog, which with little time and effort got favorable publicity and earned us some invitations to new places and even members-only events.
This year I’ve been working as a lab assistant in my department, so in summer I decided to take time off work. However, I didn’t forget about a CV booster and worked as a volunteer in preparing and holding an IT Innovations conference. It turned out a worthy investment of time – I struck up acquaintances from which I’m sure to benefit professionally. And the sheer amount of ideas that sparked up in this enthusing environment will be a source of inspiration for everyone involved for months ahead.
As I came back, a no less inspiring activity awaited me: my friend Catherine, an aspiring art therapist, invited me to an art trip to a local rural resort. The place is perfect for open-air drawing and painting which we both love. It sports some ancient architectural sights and picturesque scenery. City folk are fond of coming there to enjoy some peace and quiet, and Cath hopes to get people in to join her art workshop. This start-up’s been her dream for a long time, so she’s really eager for it to see the light of day. I’m to help her with shooting videos for her YouTube channel, taking photos and writing blog posts about it all. Cath’s really talented and has much to share, so I want her venture to become well-known and popular.
That’s how my summer holidays are going. As you see, doing something for your studies during summer doesn’t mean any cramming or frenzied essay-writing practice; and far as enjoying yourself goes you have plenty of opportunities – you have absolutely no excuse for feeling bored!
