It is the most anticipated time of the year for any student. After a long and hard-earned year, summer break has finally arrived. Although summer break is a break from school, it is not a break from learning. To insure that learning continues, many schools require students to do a project over the break. This has sparked debate over whether these summer projects should be teacher-designed or student-designed. Summer projects should be student-designed, because it would cause students to become more enthusiastic about it, students would be more likely to complete them, and it would not take away as much from the students' summer as it would if it were teacher-designed.

One reason why summer projects should be student-designed is because it would cause the students to become more enthusiastic about it. Most students would not be very pleased when finding out that they have been tasked with a project during the summer. This displeasure would grow even more if the project was teacher-designed and containing a topic of which they hold no interest in. This would result in the students doing the projects just to do them and obtaining little to no knowledge while doing so. However, if the project was student-designed, the students would be able to pick a topic they are interested in and passionate about. This would cause them to become more enthusiastic about it, and maybe might even make the students happy and excited about doing it. Because they would have enthusiasm while doing it, they would also retain a lot more knowledge and information from it making it much more beneficial and better achieving the assignment's purpose. In the end, summer projects should be student-designed, because it would cause students to become more enthusiastic about it.

Another reason why summer projects should be student-designed is because students would be more likely to complete it. When assigned with unwanted work, many students divert to the option of just not doing it. Not only does this defeat the purpose of the assignment because the students will not learn anything, it also puts these students at a disadvantage to those who did, and gives them a bad grade to start off with before school even starts. However, if the students get to design the project and pick a subject or topic they would like to do, it would make them much more likely to complete it. For example, a lot of the reason why many of these students do not complete their work is because they have other interests that they prioritize over school. However, if they were able to design and conduct an experiment concerning one of these interests, they would be much more motivated to get it done. In the end, summer projects should be student-designed, because students would be more likely to do them.

The last reason why summer projects should be student-designed is because it would not take away as much from the students' summer as it would if it were teacher-designed. There is summer break for a reason, and that is it is much needed as a school year is long, draining, and full of ups and downs. Summer break should be a time of fun, relaxation, and vacations, and for many, may include other tasks such as sports and summer jobs. A summer project can take away from these things, especially if it is teacher-designed. Many students even feel burdened by the idea of knowing it has to be done, and therefore causes them to stress about it. If the project was student-designed, however, the taking away of summer time would be shrunken to a minimum. This is because the students can do a project that fits their location, amount of time, and interests. A student may not be able to fulfill a teacher-designed experiment, because they simply do not have time to do so. For example, a student who vacations a lot during the summer, may not be able to do a teacher-designed experiment which involves measuring plant growth over time, which requires a lot of time, and may only produce valid results if they were grown in one location. To do this, the student may have to cancel a trip, which should never have to happen. If the project were student-designed however, the student could do an experiment based off of their travels, perhaps collecting and comparing data from the places they travel. Not only would this be interesting and unique, it would also be very knowledgeable, and most importantly not impede in the way of the trips the student takes. In the end, summer projects should be student-designed, because it would not take away as much from the students' summer as it would if it were teacher-designed.

In conclusion, summer projects should be student-designed, because it would cause the students to become more enthusiastic about it, students would be more likely to complete them, and it would not take away as much from the students' summer as it would if it were teacher-designed. Although student projects can be viewed as beneficial and necessary, it is ultimately up to the student to fulfill its purpose. Therefore, the best way to get students to achieve the goal of continuing to learn over their break, and at the same time to respect their break time, is to make the projects student-designed. 