Summer break is approaching, and the last day of school is on the 25th of June. In this eighth grade, to celebrate our graduation, we’ve done the following:
- Funplex: May 29, 2024
- Luncheon at Space Events: June 12, 2024
- Yearbook Signing and Field Day: June 14, 2024
Graduation Dates:
-> High school’s graduation is on the 19th at St. Peter’s University.
-> Middle school’s graduation day is on the 24th, and everyone gets dismissed at 12:45 p.m. on that day, like the 20th and 25th as well.
But after all of these events, what events will we be able to look up to in the summer? What activities will we do to keep busy? How can we stay productive over the summer? Well if you have any of these questions, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, I will be discussing the many things you can do this summer that are attainable and noteworthy.
Tips:
- Get involved
As summer is approaching, I’d recommend you to ask questions about what opportunities there are for students that it can be attended to in the following months. You can ask Ms. Lopez, the school’s guidance counselor, or try asking any of your teachers if they have any knowledge about that matter.
And if you keep updated on your counseling google classroom, you will see assignments that display a series of events near you that you can try attending.
To add on, the Jersey City Public Library hosts a series of activities, clubs and classes. Especially over the summer. And you can even continue them on in the school year if you’re really interested in them. And the best part is that most of these clubs are free. And if clubs aren’t your thing, they also have different competitions like Poetry competitions and such.
To get their website, just type in jclibrary.org on your browser and there you go!
2. Summer camps
Summer camps typically cost money in order to attend them, therefore indicating you should spend your money wisely and find out what your interests are or what skills you want to improve on. To do this, you may want to invest in going to a summer camp. And if not summer camps, look up classes online, there are multiple sites that feature information about them, and try to be productive in that sense.
3. Make completing your summer homework a priority
I know that it may seem like you have so much time over the summer to complete your homework, but in reality, the break will end pretty soon. Think about it this way: summer break lasts for about the same amount of time as the months of September and October. And as you move up in the grade levels, you can expect your assignments to get a bit more challenging and also for you to have a greater amount of work than before.
I’m not saying that you have to finish it within a week after your break starts. Just try pacing and planning out what you have to complete so that you can finish off everything within at least the first month of the summer break. This way, you can have more time to yourself to rest and travel and whatever else you want to do!
4. Go above and beyond
Your mental health is most important, and you do deserve a break whenever you feel like you need one. But as you might forget some of the lessons you learned at school over the break, it’s good to at least skim through your notes before you start school. I’d suggest starting this about 4 weeks before school ends or using up 10 mins every day just to look through all of your notes. Think smarter, not harder.
And to motivate you to do this, try watching those aesthetic study videos online. You know, the ones that talk about highlighters and pencils and other aesthetic stationery items like that?
And if you’re interested in that, please try checking out Daiso! It’s like a Japanese dollar store that can be found at numerous locations throughout the United States. I wouldn’t suggest buying any school supplies from there as of yet however, just because your teachers will be giving you a syllabus during the first few days of school the following academic year.
5. Form a routine
It’s easy to slip into a comfortable and very unproductive routine once the break starts. You may start off good, but as the days drag on you just start procrastinating. This is especially because you have the ‘freedom’ to sleep late and wake up late, and you don’t really have to face the consequences of your actions because your not going to school and constantly seeing people every day.
That’s why it is important to achieve an attainable yet achieving schedule. And to do that, you first have to right down three or more goals that you want to accomplish over the summer. You must promise yourself that you will accomplish them.
Then find 10 minutes in your day to either research about something new or improve your skill set in a certain activity. This could be anything, really, like gaming or chess or writing. Anything that your interested in but haven’t gotten the chance to work towards yet.
Remember that setting small goals are more attainable than just upright setting big goals, and accomplishing a bunch of small goals lead onto you accomplishing even greater goals!
6. Exercise and activity
At school, you have extracurricular activities like sports and you even have gym class most of the time. You may walk home from school and walk to school. But all this goes to say is that you are constantly moving your body during the academic year, whether it’s getting to different classes or being a part of the track team.
You have to find a way to incorporate physical activity into your schedule for both your mental and physical health. You can start off a day by just stretching, for example, if you don’t think you’ll have enough time for anything else. You can try going to your local community center and play sports there.
7. Spend time with friends and family
Schedule a day in which you hang out with your friends, or have weekly group calls with them. You could all walk to a park or go to an ice cream shop. You could even try working on your summer homework together. It’ll be a little more difficult to find that time with your friends, not at school, once school starts. So really just try to enjoy the moment for while it lasts.
Also go on trips! As many as you want to! You can go somewhere here, in the United States or just in the state of New Jersey, or even travel somewhere else around the world!
8. Don’t think too much about the future
This ties into my seventh point. It’s good to have clarity and it is good to have plans about what you want to accomplish during the later school year. But it’s important to understand that you have to really enjoy your summer break for while it lasts, because once you go back to school, you’ll start wishing that the break comes sooner once again.
Stay present and stay thankful, that’s all your psyche really asks for right now.
9. Wardrobe work
During the summertime, you have the time to experiment with the way you look and how you express yourself. Try thrifting for clothes, create pinterest boards that suit your aesthetic, and try to look like the most happiest and healthiest version of yourself. That is what is most important.
To summarize everything up, you could do the following:
- thrift shopping
- walking and taking pictures in a park
- post on your social media, only if you want to
- try out a new haircut
- change up your pair of glasses, or get contacts, if you have glasses right now
- paint your nails if you want to (colors that I like are light blue, maroon and dark purple)
- customize/revamp your room (also clean your room frequently, don’t fall into a slump but it’s important to understand that even if you do it’s okay)
- state positive affirmations every day, you can state them by reading off of the ones that are listed by a certain app or just make your own
Make sure that everything you do is budget friendly! Don’t compare your summers too heavily with other people’s summers!
10. Artwork and such
You can read books and watch videos online that relate to the types of crafts that you can make and the art pieces that you can sketch out. You can even start your own book or writing piece, like me! I’m writing my own poetry collection called ‘Chosen to Read’ and I hope to publish it by the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic school year when I start high school. Try out new hobbies and be even more passionate about old ones!
I definitely do not have all the answers as to how I can crack the code and have the most perfect summer yet. But I do know how to have a productive and joyful one! Therefore I encourage any means of experimentation, and I would also motivate you to listen to at least one of the topics discussed previously and follow it.
I wish that we all have our best summer yet this year!
