How to Be Productive this Summer

By Ashley Paskill on May 6, 2018

After a long semester of hard work, it can be tempting to sit around and do nothing all summer. While this may slide for a few weeks, this cannot be how you spend your entire summer. It is important to use your time wisely to help you achieve your goals.

1. Take a summer class or two

If you want to get ahead and can afford to, consider taking a summer class or two. This will help you retain any information that you learned while learning new things. It will also help you eliminate the number of classes you have to take. Check with your advisor to see if you can take classes, especially GenEds, at a community college and have them applied to your degree to save money. Be warned that these classes are usually accelerated to fit the same amount of work and information into a shorter period of time than a normal semester.

2. Get a summer job or internship

Getting a summer job or internship is a great way to learn new skills or apply things learned in the classroom. Whether you get a retail job or an internship in your field, you will learn how to work with a variety of people and learn new skills that can translate into your future career, no matter how far-fetched it may seem. If anything, having a job will help you earn and save money for the next school year to help you be more independent from your parents.

3. Go on an educational trip

Whether it is to a local battlefield or a historically important city on the other side of the country, taking a trip that is education can help you expand your mind and physically see things you have learned in the classroom. These things can help you become more engaged in the things you learn about or the things you are interested in pursuing. Even if the place is not relevant to anything you are interested in, exploring new places expands your mind and enhances the culture you are exposed to.

4. Meet up with high school friends

Chances are, once you graduated high school, you only kept in touch with a few of your friends. You probably went to different schools for different majors. Even if you went to the same school, you probably had different schedules, making it hard to see each other. Make it a point to see each other at least twice this summer to catch up. Plan to hang out as a group as well as individually, as both of these can be beneficial in their own way.

5. Attend at least one networking event or conference in your field

Even if you do not have an internship or job in the career you want to pursue, there are still opportunities to get ahead of the game this summer. Set a goal to attend one conference or networking event within your field. Look on social media and professional organization websites to see what is coming to a city near you and go. These events are great opportunities to meet people who may be co-workers someday. Make business cards and be prepared to collect some to keep in touch with those who may have job connections.

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