For as long as I can remember, my parents always stressed the importance of education.

They always checked in on me while I was studying during the weekends to tell me I was doing a good job and praised me for my work ethic whenever I brought home exceptional grades. After the 9 months of working hard to complete homework assignments, projects, quizzes and tests, I was ecstatic to see the summer time finally arrive. I could not wait to let my skin soak up the sunlight, go on adventures with my friends, and be completely, unapolagetically lazy. One year, I remember telling my father how I was happy that I could take a break from learning and doing homework. He responded with a statement that I always keep in mind. Smiling earnestly he said "My dear, you should never want to stop learning, no matter where you are or what you are doing, there is always a chance to learn something and benefit from it" Hearing that, I reflected on my performance during the school year and realized that the more I learned, the better my grades were. I also realized that having a better understanding of the material I was taught helped me to succeed. During the summer time, If I completely slacked off, getting back into the habit of doing school work was difficult for me due to the fact that I disregarded all the information I learned and did not retain much. When my father saw this, he started giving me little assignments to do to prepare me for the next year. These assignment truly helped me prepare for the upcoming academic year and I was able to maintain the habit of doing school work while going over material I learned. Some schools require their pupils to complete summer projects during their break in order to make sure they keep learning even when they are not in the classroom. These projects are important because they enable students to not only retain information, but to also keep them from falling behind when school reopens. I feel as though these projects should be student designed based on a certain rubric so that the students can actively test their knowledge, while they are doing something they are interested in.

Some may argue that these student-designed projects will not be successful because students cannot discipline themselves enough to design and complete their own projects. Or, that they will not learn anything from these projects and they will view this as another task they will half-heartedly complete to get out of the way. What these people fail to realize is that when students are given the opportunity to do something on their own based on something they are interested in they will enjoy working on it more. Throughout the school year they have been given teacher-designed assignments and told exactly what to do. Therefore, having a teacher-designed project wouldnt be as thrilling. It would simply feel like another assignment which they have to complete and then forget about as they enjoy the rest of their summer. In the real world, teachers and authority figures will not always be there to hold the students hand and tell them exactly what to do. These student-designed assignments would give them a sense of responsibility and independence which are crucial factors that are needed in the adult world. Once they have completed these projects, the students will feel a sense of pride knowing they created something unique, all on their own. They can use their creativity to bring these projects to life, while learning more about the topic they have chosen.

Another way these projects will benefit students, is that they will enable them to continue learning even while school is not in session. As they take the time to do research, and design the structure of these projects the students will be actively testing their reading and writing skills, while stimulating their minds as they work on finishing these projects. When they return to school, working diligently to do schoolwork will not be such a draining, difficult task since they were working during the summer time. These projects will keep students from getting lazy which is what tends to happen during the summer time. They toss their books to the side and do not realize how harmful it is to go a full 3 months without doing some kind of schoolwork. Students should not be to struggling at the beginning of each year to remember material from the previous year, or in learning new curriculum. Giving them something to keep their mind running will be beneficial to them as it aids them in continuing their education even when there is not a teacher in front of them.

Therefore, these projects should be student-designed so that students can understand that they should not allow themselves to lose all of the information they learned throughout the school year while they are enjoying their summer break. If they are given assignments of their choosing they can design it in any way that pleases them, while they teach themselves to continue working hard. It is important for students to realize that these projects are not meant to prevent them from enjoying their time away from school. Yes, breaks are important and students should not be doing heaps of schoolwork for hours during their vacation. However, retaining their knowledge of curriculum and maintaining good work ethic is equally as important. The purpose of these projects are to help students, not hurt them. They will show students that they do not need to be solely dependent on teachers to learn, they can teach and help themselves while doing an assignment that interests them.