Student summers are a critical time of your life. You’re young, free, without the aspects of life that tie you down to a specific place or job, so can really shape what you go on to do.
Maximizing those summers can really be life-changing, in many different ways. So how should you be spending them?
Well, that all depends, but summers between college can really be made the most of with the following…
Take The Vacation Of A Lifetime
People think being a student is easy, but taking a break is needed just as much as the person sat running the accounts of a high-powered business.
Taking a break will refresh the mind and as a student and the long summers that come with being one, it’s the ideal time to take the trip of a lifetime.
Funding is, of course, an issue, jobs during term time can help, while finding a credit card with cash back benefits to fund a trip and paying off in term time with a job is also a good way to ensure you earn a summer break.
Trips of a lifetime, or in fact any vacation, students take in the summer can be beneficial in so many ways. Firstly, it’s a chance to forget about your studies and switch off, while it’s also the chance to broaden the mind, learn about new cultures and traditions, as well as make new friends from all over the world. Many of which you’ll stay in touch with forever.
Earn Work Experience
In college, it’s time to start thinking about the future and the wider world and while term time can be firmly focussed on studies, the summers can potentially boost your chances of walking into the job you want by taking work experience.
Whether you want to try out a career to see what you think or wish to get your foot in the door, work experience is always beneficial.
You’ll get a real taste of the career you potentially want, as well as having something immediately to put on your resume, which it’s proven businesses look out for in graduates. It tells them your eager to learn, as well as knowing you already have insight as to how a business works.
For yourself, you may find the place you enjoy work experience with may offer you a job if you’re successful, while you can also decide if it’s the job for you before applying for full-time roles.
You likely won’t be paid, but it’s better not to be paid taking on work experience during summer, rather than taking on an internship post-grad and making little/nothing while all your friends are earning.
Start A Business
Alternatively, you could put things in place to start a business. Most successful entrepreneurs start their careers in college and university, playing around with ideas and gaining experience of success and failure.
What starting a business in college offers is low risk with high reward. As mentioned above, there’s nothing tying you down, you have no dependents, so throwing yourself into new ideas can be a real learning curve.
What’s more, you’ll be able to use campus resources and even be able to hire friends as cheap labor and sound out tutors and the expansive university networks for advice.
Summertime is the ideal time to start this as you have lots of time to plan, study and implement ideas.
Spend Time With Your Family
Of course, spending time with family is also one of the most important things. When away from home at college, homesickness can be huge, so making the most of your time at home can really solve that’s
Whether it’s regular dinners together, day trips, or family holidays, finding that connection after a year or a few months away can be just as refreshing as a summer vacation. Visit family members you haven’t seen for a while, speak openly to parents about experiences while living away and you’ll find yourself closer to them than ever before, taking your relationship to the next level.