Summer is my favorite time of year. In the United States, schools have a little over two months break from school each year. During this period of time schools usually give students assignments to help them remember all that they have learned during the school year. It is very common for teachers and other staff to design these assignments for schools, including my own school. Although some may believe otherwise, summer projects should be student-designed because it would make it a more engaging and exciting experience for students, and it would help students be more productive over the summer.

Student-designed projects would make summer projects more engaging for students, while still expanding their knowledge. An experience I had with this was after I finished my freshman year in high school. Over the summer I had a ten page assignment for my math class that I had to finish before the first day of school started. This experience was very frustrating because all I could think about at that time was what I was missing out on with all my other summer activities. This assignment was very long and boring for me to do, when it could've been a lot more fun and exciting if students could've brought their own personal intrests and ideas into it. Another example was when my friend Generic_Name had to do an assignment for German class. The teacher asked each of the students to research one aspect of German culture and then make a power point with pictures with what they found. Although this wasn't a summer assignment it shows how assignments can be made more engaging if students can take charge in it. In this instance, Generic_Name was able to research a specific part of German culture she was interested in, and she actually enjoyed taking part in this project. Summer projects have the potential to be very engaging and could even bring in personal interest if they could be student lead.

If students were able to design their own summer assignments it would help them be more productive with their free time. In past years at my school, teachers have assigned specific assignments for the summer, but this last year they had a checklist of some educational activities one could take part in such as: watch a documentary, read a book of choice, go to a museum, and so on. I decided to go to a science museum with my family, where we learned about astronomy, oceanography, meteorology, and much more. This experience was very fun because I got to spend time with my family, but also it helped me learn even more about science, which I already love. It also helped me go outside the house and be productive with my time instead of sitting around and watching TV all day. Another time, some friends of mine told me that they don't even do the assignments until the last few days before school starts. These summer projects are not even helping the students learn if they're just rushing to finish. In this instance, the students were not even being productive with they're time because when they rushed to complete the assignment they could not comprehend what they're writing down. Summer is a time when people don't have too much going on, so it promotes laziness and procrastination, but with an interesting assignment it could bring students off the couch.

Some may disagree and say that teachers should design these summer assignments. Although it is understandable to think this way, this reasoning is flawed because teacher-designed projects don't always connect with the students. One example I have of this was with our summer reading book from last summer, 'Craig and Fred.' This novel was about a marine in Iran who found a dog and brought him back home even though it was against the military rules. I thought the book was very well written, and I appreciated this experience Craig shared with us, but I personally didn't connect with the story because I couldn't relate to the characters in the book and it wasn't a kind of book I usually read. When teachers give these kind of assignments it's hard to relate and have a good experience doing them. Bad feelings toward summer projects could be entirely avoided if students were able to choose their own book or even put in suggestions for them. I've had so many experiences in high school where I just didn't connect with or completely understand an assignment, and has resulted in it being very hard to complete. Some teachers can come up with fun activities for projects, but it would help students overall if they could have input in their projects.

It is important to remember that school is not made to stress students out with all the tests and assignments teachers give them, it is to help students learn all about the world and prepare us for real life. In the past teachers have planned out these projects for the summer, but I believe in the future that should change because it can help students see how things they've learned in school work in the outside world. So teachers, let students take charge for once!