Fourth period had just begun, and Generic_Name was desperately longing for its end; that afternoon, summer break would begin. Unfortunately, her school mandates that students complete a project over break, and, this year, a teacher had designed it. Once summer break had nearly reached its end, Generic_Name was struggling to complete the assignment; she was not sure how to develop the project, and her time was often limited due to her family. The debate over teacher and student designed projects has been long ongoing; this argument causes most schools to have no projects over summer break at all, thus hindering students education. Students should be able to design their own projects to complete over the summer, rather than a teacher, as it allows them to create their own schedules, better express themselves, and develop a different perspective regarding school.

By allowing students to design their own projects, schools are then allowing them to manage their own time. Summer is a time of year when students get a break. A young, developing mind requires this break in order to effectively process any information it has stored; information usually essential to the following years of a child's life. Without a designated period of time for the brain to full recuperate, the mind is likely to shut down, prohibiting it from registering anything whatsoever. Additionally, students have families, many of which plan events like vacations over the break. A student is unable to control the influence their family has on their life and that is no reason for them to be punished with a bad grade on their time-consuming assigned project. Time management is a valuable skill, and there is no better way to teach it than to allow students to create their own schedules.

Secondly, with students designing their own projects, they will be able to express themselves in a way that they could not with a mandatory topic to follow. If a student is allowed to design their own project then they are going to choose something they have interest in. This interest will not only be visible within their project, but it will also help the student to learn more in-depth about whatever topic they chose to do. Research shows that when a person is interested in something, its retaining of knowledge relating to the subject is 25% higher than average. Furthermore, a self-designed project would allow a student to showcase their overall creativity and imagination. Instead of every student in a class presenting an hour long slide show about the origin of man, there would be a variety of presentations and display models that, not just having intrigued its creator, capture the attention of multiple students, who can then learn information as well.

Adding to the argument, student-designed projects would cause a positive experience with education. Oftentimes, students do not understand that education is not just reading textbooks and writing essays; it is so much more than that. With students designing their own projects, they will be able to experience for themselves the wonders of the learning. If a student chose to do their project on a book, there would be an infinite number of possibilities. The student could choose to read a biography about a historical figure, but they could also choose to read a fantasy novel; either option will benefit the student in regards to education, but by having the student pick their project, they are deciding their method of learning, a method which they actually enjoy. Likely, with however the student chooses to do their project, the student will continue that way of educating themselves all on their own. Instead of dreading coming to school, the student will have realized that they love learning, just in their own way.

Regardless of all the benefits of student-designed projects, there will still be school boards that would argue against this method. They may argue that a teacher-designed project is more educational; these projects would make sure every student was informed of a topic that could then be discussed. However, this hopeful attitude towards teenage students is inaccurate because, although a discussion would be possible if all students were properly informed, students are unlikely to take the initiative to reach that level of dedication to a teacher-selected topic. Most students would have varying details of information and, although the communication of these details would result in a growing knowledge on the matter, most of them would probably be from an unreliable source and untrue, thereby confusing an entire class of students. Many students would also be unwilling to dedicate themselves to something they find entirely school-related, and this would result in a lack of effort and, potentially, a lack of participation; whereas, a topic the student enjoys could make the learning process significantly less stressful. Keeping the brain active could be as simple as learning new vocabulary from a song or looking up an animal that the news mentioned; school curriculum would not be required to keep students engaged.

In conclusion, having students design their own projects to complete over summer break has much greater benefits then forcing the completion of projects developed by teachers. With this method, students will be able to manage their own time, leading to increased productivity in their future. These students will then be able to learn to express themselves through their individual creativity and interests. Additionally, students will gain an overall positive experience with education, fueling their desire to learn more and participate with more enthusiasm in school. The world's most famous celebrities only got to where they are because they followed their interests, but the school system has a way of restricting those ideas. There is no better way to encourage someone to become successful than to give them the freedom of choice, especially in a school, where students set goals and learn how to reach them.