Four Ways to Self-Start Your Summer

There are many ways to carve out a fun, memorable, and productive summer. Whether you’re a freshman looking to add some structure to the long days or a junior in search of one more meaningful experience, here are four ways to self-start your summer.

1. Explore a future career by shadowing someone at work. Reach out to a few family friends or other connections and ask if you can join them for a day at work. Shadowing is a great way to gain real world insight into a career or field you may be interested in. Think you might be interested in a career in the medical field or want to run a business someday? Start exploring that question by following someone on the job. Long term, this can make for a rich experience and also help you start thinking about possible majors and career goals.

2. Dive into your interests by creating a podcast or series of Medium posts. Maybe you have a niche passion or a cause you want to raise awareness about, but you can’t find a summer course on the topic. Take matters into your own hands and create your own resource in the form of a podcast or Medium posts. This gives you the opportunity to do your own research and, if you’re feeling bold, even reach out to experts for interviews. There’s no better way to learn something than by teaching others and starting your own project.

3. Get a summer job. This is an essential summer experience for a reason. Bussing tables at a cafe, scooping ice cream, or making lattes is a great way to learn the art of showing up. A part-time job will help build your work ethic and, along with the pride of earning your own cash, can be just plain fun. Bonus: you’ll have the opportunity to meet new people and exercise a different skill set than the one you’ll be using for summer test prep or athletics practice.

4. Choose one small activity or ritual that’s just for you. It’s important to plan a summer that will allow you to grow and thrive, and while this often involves rigorous summer school courses and long hours of sports practice, it’s also essential to build in time for rest, friends, family, and the activities that restore you. In this spirit, you might consider adding a new activity or ritual that’s just for you. This might be something more simple like keeping a journal or it could involve trying out an unexpected new hobby.

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