Summer is for relaxing.. right? Well, yes and no.
Sleeping in, being lazy, and forgetting about school is all you want to do. But let me tell you now, that’s kind of a mistake. As a student, you’ve been gifted around three months of free, unstructured time. The upside is that you can use it however you want, but the downside is that you can use it however you want. Countless students, including myself, have fallen into the trap of wasting their summer and regretting it later. Don’t let this be you!
How Do I Even Start?
By now you’ve been used to not needing to schedule your time or have goals for yourself. But in order to strike a balance between having fun and staying on track, you need to set goals and structure your own time. You may be going on holiday, or have tutoring during the summer. These things need to be accounted for too!
Start by thinking: where am I in my school career and what do I want to accomplish? Your summer goals may vary by where you are right now; a student in Year 10 may want to do some supercurriculars, and a student in Year 12 may want to pursue their passion project. So evaluate where you are right now and where you want to be. Are you falling behind slightly in your classes? Do you want to boost your extracurricular profile? These are all important to consider when setting goals.
Different methods exist for tracking your goals. Know what works for yourself and stick to it- for example, writing lists may work for some, while a tracker on your calendar may work better for others. What’s important is that you have a tangible reminder of what you want to accomplish, which you can revisit after the summer is over. For example, I might set a goal to review content I’m unsure with and to start looking into universities I want to apply to.
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Checklist
I personally swear by checklists as a method to track my tasks and goals. By physically writing down what my intentions are, it helps me consolidate what I’m thinking and reminds me whenever I forget.
How you do this is by simply taking any piece of paper and writing down your goals. A to-do list format works, or you could do a small brainstorm depending on what you prefer. I like to do different lists for different timescales. For summer planning, you could do a general list for the whole summer holiday, then each month during the holiday, each week, and finally each day. This is a less restrictive organisational method than time blocking, and allows you to stay on track while leaving flexibility to allow for disruptions to your schedule without tripping you up completely.
You don’t have to do exactly what I recommend. If a simple general to-do list for the whole summer works for you, do that! This method is about being flexible and tailoring it to work for you.
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Time Blocking
I personally swear by checklists as a method to track my tasks and goals. By physically writing down what my intentions are, it helps me consolidate what I’m thinking and reminds me whenever I forget.
How you do this is by simply taking any piece of paper and writing down your goals. A to-do list format works, or you could do a small brainstorm depending on what you prefer. I like to do different lists for different timescales. For summer planning, you could do a general list for the whole summer holiday, then each month during the holiday, each week, and finally each day. This is a less restrictive organisational method than time blocking, and allows you to stay on track while leaving flexibility to allow for disruptions to your schedule without tripping you up completely.
You don’t have to do exactly what I recommend. If a simple general to-do list for the whole summer works for you, do that! This method is about being flexible and tailoring it to work for you.
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What Kinds of Thing Can I Do?
With practically unlimited time comes unlimited possibilities. Here’s some broad types of activities you can engage in!
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External Courses
Both online and physical courses exist to promote further learning during the holidays- potential sources include local university academies for secondary school students, which usually occur on-site, with professors leading the course over a week or two. These generally require students to apply ahead of time and cost money. Alternatives include online courses, which could be led by reputable global universities- for free, even. Courses with certificates at the end are cheap and could allow you to learn useful skills like python, another language, or further learning for a subject you’re interested in.
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Studying
With rigorous curricula like the IB diploma or A-Levels, it may be useful to devote some time to studying the content. During the school year there generally isn’t too much time to study, and pre-learning content could make sure that you’re ahead of the school curriculum. Especially for Year 10 and Year 12 students, reviewing content for subjects they’re weak in will set them up for success in their IGCSE and IB or A-Level examinations later. Simply dedicating a day a week or a few hours a day to reviewing content will help majorly, especially to make sure you don’t lose your momentum over the summer.
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Internship And Shadowing
While internships are usually more competitive to get than shadowing and are often geared towards university students, it’s still possible to get one. For students looking into highly competitive and professional fields like medicine, dentistry, or architecture, they could be looking into these summer activities as a way to increase their understanding of the field and as material to write about in UK style personal statements.
Generally, internships and shadowings last two weeks. Networking is the best way to get opportunities like this, so take advantage of your status as a student and reach out to professionals via LinkedIn, email, or by leveraging your personal connections to speak to these people. Cold emailing professors for research internships/shadowings could be something to look into, but many tend to not reply. Research internships require mastery of a subject, and students generally can’t do much in the lab due to safety and liability issues. Developing skills useful for data analysis such as an ability to code should be mentioned if you cold-email professors, as this is probably the only way you can contribute without slowing down the research.
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Passion Project
If you’re a student looking into applying for competitive US universities, you may have heard about passion projects. Passion projects are generally a project that a student undertakes on their own time, about a subject or issue they care deeply about, and that have a tangible effect on their community. For example, a student passionate about the environment could identify an issue related to separating recyclables in their building or school and using skills learnt themselves or from school, develop an AI program and device to recognise and sort them. If you want to do something like this, it’s good to evaluate your interests, any potential issues you can identify in your wider community, and how you could work to fix these issues.
Passion projects are a great way to demonstrate to universities that you have self-initiative and the ability to make a difference, while applying knowledge in subjects you’ve excelled in. The summer holidays are an optimal time to start or work on one, because you have such a big chunk of unrestricted time!
Studia Care will be holding our first outreach trip this August 2025. To know more, please email care@studiaacademy.com if you are interested! However, do be conscientious of sensitive issues and make sure to approach any people your project may involve with respect, especially if they’re less fortunate. It does not bode well for anyone if you approach this endeavour insensitively. Consult teachers and trusted adults before starting to identify potential issues- like with safety.
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Go Forth!
If you’ve made it this far, good job! The summer is yours- make sure to strike the right balance between working hard like you have been already, and relaxing like your life depends on it.
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Writer: Alyssa Chan
Editor: Andrea Koesno
Illustrator: Luthfi Hafidz
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