Posts published on June 9, 2016

5 Instructive and Interesting Ways to Spend Your Summer Break

BY MELISSA BURNS

If you haven’t made plans for the summer break already, it is high time to get your brains into high gear, for it isn’t going to last forever. Here’re several suggestions that can help you make up your mind.

1.    Work

Summer jobs are certainly instructive, and there is no reasons for them not to be interesting as well. Internships are often unpaid but provide excellent insights into your chosen industries and look good on a resume, and even such seemingly lackluster jobs as a waiter or a construction worker provide a host of new experiences and help you learn how to leave your comfort zone. You may also try out temp agencies – they sometimes provide surprisingly well-paying jobs.

2.    Travel

Although students, as a rule, don’t roll in money, travel may be, in fact, more affordable for them than for many other social groups, for airlines and other travel companies often have special offers tailored specifically for students and providing huge discounts and freebies. In addition to that, college is probably the last period in your life before it gets bogged down in work and family obligations, which means that now may be the perfect time to see the world if you so wish. What exactly it is going to be like fully depends on your interests and preference: go to a country you’ve always wanted to visit, go on a tour throughout the USA, visit a European car festival to see specimens from the full list of top10 fast cars in action, or choose at random if nothing else applies.

3.    Volunteer

We all want to do something meaningful in our lives, and this summer may be the right time to try your hand at it – and, at the same time, acquire a lot of useful experiences that may change the course of your life and let you see it from an unexpected angle. There are dozens of volunteering programs suitable for any tastes and interests: home and abroad projects, long and short-term volunteering, ecological and social programs, whatever you want.

4.    Learn a New Skill

One of the better ways to spend time mixing business with pleasure is to acquire skills that are both fascinating and will remain with you for the rest of your life. Ever wanted to learn some handcraft? Never had time for dancing lessons you wanted to take since primary school? Want to learn a new language but are afraid to start such a monumental task? Don’t put it off, you have an entire summer ahead of you to succeed.

5.    Exercise

Exercising is something all of us should do regularly, but all too often this useful routine falls apart during college years because we constantly seemingly lack time to take care of ourselves. Summer break is an excellent opportunity to start a new workout routine without an excuse of insufficient time and, if you have enough self-discipline, you will probably keep up with it when the next term starts.

Plan ahead, and your summer break may turn into something interesting, meaningful and having long-lasting beneficial consequences.

Melissa Burns graduated from the faculty of Journalism of Iowa State University in 2008. Nowadays she  is an entrepreneur and independent journalist. Her sphere of interests includes startups, information technologies and how these ones may be implemented.