9 Productive Ways to Spend Your Summer!

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has made our future unpredictable, you can still take advantage of the summer as a student during these unprecedented times. Check out our 9 favorite ways to be productive and utilize your summer!

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9 Great Ideas to Achieve a Productive Summer

#1: Volunteering

Volunteering is a great way to stay productive over the summer! Volunteering can help build up your resume, expand your interests, and is a great way to give back to your local or even global community. There are so many volunteering opportunities that we could drone on about, but we decided to showcase one example that can be done right from your own house! For more opportunities, visit VolunteerMatch and DoSomething to find campaigns for almost any cause.

Example: By joining Smithsonian digital volunteers, you can get hours right from your own house by transcribing and checking over transcriptions of historical documents. Click here to read the instructions and click here to begin.

Pros: learn new skills, make new friends, meet your high school community service requirements

Cons: non-paying, options can be limited during the pandemic given the new online format of work

#2: Online Tutoring

Online tutoring is a great way to get volunteering hours or get paid like the overachiever you are. Its hours are flexible and convenient, and you can even reinforce some essential skills that you might have forgotten before. To sign up to be a volunteer tutor, visit Teensgive (application is a Google form, so it’s easy and straightforward to apply). You can also apply to Upchieve if you have no formal tutoring experience as it will put you through a tutoring course. You can even start your own tutoring or class. (I know many friends who are starting up dance, debate, and math camps.)

Pros: strengthen your understanding in introductory courses, strengthen leadership skills and communication skills

Cons: could be non-paying, appointments could be all over the place (hard to keep track and plan your day around)

#3: Summer Classes

The summer is also a great time to get ahead for the upcoming school year. Many websites offer free classes in a variety of different subjects. Sites like edX and Coursera offer free college courses that are taped or streamed from universities. With tons of topics ranging from robotics to American poetry, you can participate in real-time or watch past lectures from professors at places like Stanford and Harvard.

Pros: getting ahead, learning new things, prepare for college, take classes your genuinely interested in

Cons: harder to motivate yourself to study since it’s summer

#4: Online Internship Opportunities

Getting an internship is almost like getting a job. With an internship at a company or organization, you can explore activities more closely related to your major or potential career. While this year, you can’t intern in person, many places are offering virtual internships you can still participate in. You can find some in your local area by going to Indeed, Chegg, or SimplyHired.

Cons: big time commitment, could be uninteresting/boring if you choose a bad one

Pros: gain work experience, can help you decide on a major or job, learn life skills

#5: Get a Summer Job

It’s almost a rite of passage for high school students to have a summer job. Having a job is a great way to gain work experience placed on your resume and college applications. Added bonus: you get the money that you can use to pay for college or spend it for fun. Many websites outline job opportunities in your own neighborhood. And hey, you can even keep it old school and search for jobs at coffee shops and restaurants in person. For opportunities in your local area, visit Indeed (although read carefully cause some positions require you to be done with high school) or SimplyHired. For ideas of jobs, visit MoneyCrashers!

Pros: make and manage money, gain work experience, learn life skills

Cons: big time commitment, some jobs could be boring

#6: Visit Colleges

With all this free time on your hands, start visiting some colleges! Start researching which colleges you are interested in and plan a visit. Currently, there are many virtual visiting options, such as YouVisit. This alternative includes many interactive elements with immersive 360 photos, layered photos and videos, and more.

Pros: planning ahead, help you narrow down the search, help you make plans to actually visit colleges you have virtually visited

Cons: none

#7: Pursue a Hobby

With so much extra time during the summer, you can utilize it to pursue a new hobby or continue a hobby. Remember, every hobby can be expanded. If you love writing, or music-making, you can enter many contests for cash prizes. If you love art or baking, you can sell your products and take classes to get better. You can even start a Youtube channel, a blog like ours, or even just join a sports team. The possibilities are endless!

Tip #1: I know this one can be hard since no one tells or motivates you to pursue a hobby unless you take a class, of course. For those not doing sports or enrolled in a class, the best way to keep yourself accountable is to set time and schedule every week for this activity (ex. Every Tuesday at 3pm for two hours).

Tip #2: If you ever hit a block my best tip is to try something unconventional or something you have never done or something related to the activity (Ex. If you're a short story writer try writing songs or poems or if you bake, try cooking or do something unconventional with your baking). This exercise is a great brainstorm activity especially in the creative arts.

Tip #3: I’ve always intertwined hobbies with being good at something. But if this year has taught me anything, you don’t have to be good at something to enjoy something. And if you don’t think your work or hobby can be expanded, then you're wrong. Even if you're not the best, there’s something rare and enjoyable about authenticity and simplicity. Your work, especially in creative fields, doesn’t have to be the best, it just has to be authentic, real, and you.

Pros: fun, stress-relieving, refreshing way to take a break from academic things

Cons: creative block (it’s terrible trust me), hard to control your own schedule

#8: Summer Camps

Summer camp is a great place to learn new skills, travel, and immerse yourself in a specific activity. While you might not be able to attend a traditional summer camp, many camps have adapted and moved to an online format. Summer camps are also another way to boost your college applications to the next level. There are many great options out there to choose from. Just doing a quick google search for camps will get you a long way.

Some of the most prestigious summer camps are selective and have requirements. Whether it is a good standardized test score, academic transcript, essays, recommendations, extracurricular activities, or awards and honors, it is important to have that all prepared before you apply.

Pros: explore new avenues, boost college apps, have fun, learn new skills, promote independence

Cons: could be expensive

#9: Get In Shape

Guess we saved the (best?) for last. Look, we get it; exercise is hard, daunting, and sometimes even gross, but in the long run (pun intended), exercise and getting in shape provides a variety of benefits, including being more productive, getting more sleep, improved mental health, and so much more! (getting that summer bod, anyone?).

Fun workout videos can be found all over Youtube. I highly recommend the channel FitnessBlender (they have workouts for every fitness group). Additionally, I recommend the app Peloton (which has a 3 month/90 day free trial, perfect for summer). This app can be downloaded on your phone, tablet and even can connect to your TV. It requires minimal time commitments, no equipment, no membership (most times) and can help you build good lifestyle habits. One of my friends has tried it and they really enjoy the app’s services.

Tip #1: Try to work out for 30-45 minutes for 5-7 days a week and don’t overwork yourself

Tip #2: Try to keep your workouts for each day fun and different. You don’t want to overwork one part of your body! (There are many YouTube workouts you can follow and try out!)

Pros: stay healthy, improve mental health and mind, alleviate anxiety, reduce risk of diseases

Cons: the first few days will hurt, time suck

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While you should strive to achieve a productive summer, always remember to still have fun! Summer is a time to reinvent and explore, but also to keep your brain working for the next year. Brain drain is real, so keeping your mind active is very important.