Students are in school for almost ten months of year. They are constantly doing work that has been assigned by teachers, even if they do not enjoy doing it. Students have no desire to do these assignments because the assignments were designed by teachers and are not of interest to the students. They do not have any motivation to complete a boring project for school. When students get assigned a project to do over the summer, they are burnt out from all the work they have done for the past ten months; furthermore, when the teacher designs the project for them, many students refuse to do it. This leads to students not learning at all over their break. Summer projects should be student designed because students will be able to have a better learning experience, have more free time and fun with the project, and do what they enjoy over the summer.

Many students find it difficult to learn from projects and assignments that are given by teachers. Students are not able to remain focused because they are struggling to understand the project and its purpose. Designing their own projects would help students understand what they are learning and give them a better learning experience. In the television show Phineas and Ferb, the two boys are not good learners in school. They struggle to learn from worksheets and tests; however, they are the smartest kids in their neighborhood during the summer. They design their own projects and learn from what they are doing. They learn from the hands on experience and doing the type of activities and projects that they want to do over the summer. Phineas and Ferb have worked on many projects, and their learning environment and learning experience is improved because they get to work on what they want. Many students will be able to benefit like this because learning will be easier when they design their own projects.

During the summer, students want to go on vacation, hang out with their friends, and enjoy their break away from school. When the teacher assigns a project, a lot of their free time gets taken away. Instead of having fun and being with friends, they are stuck indoors because they have to finish the project. If students get to design the project for themselves, they will be able to plan it according to their summer schedule. They will know the exact time it will take them to complete the project, so they will be able to spend more time doing what they enjoy. The projects will be less confusing and challenging to the student, which will give them the free time they deserve so they can have fun during their summer. My freshman year of high school, my biology class teacher assigned me a project and a partner for my Scientific Research Project. It took me about two months to complete the project and I had lost my whole break because of it. I did not enjoy doing it at all; therefore, I did not learn much from the project and did not get a good grade on it. The next year, my sophomore year of high school, my chemistry teacher allowed us to design our projects and select our partners for the same type of project. This time I enjoyed working on the project because I got to design it all with my partner. We were able to finish this project in less than a week because we enjoyed what we were doing and wanted to learn from it. I gained a lot more knowledge from this project and ,therefore, got a better grade than before. Giving students more freedom on their projects improves their learning and allows them to have more free time over the summer.

Teachers may say that teacher generated projects are better because they have more learning content and make it more fair when grading them, but this is not fair to the students who have to spend their summer doing a project. Students should be able to pick what they enjoy doing and learning. They should be allowed to generate their own projects so they can enjoy themselves over the summer and still be learning. In the movie Lemonade Mouth, the teachers and principal tell the group of students that they can not do what they enjoy. They try to make them learn sports and learn things that they are not good at. This causes them to struggle in school. When one teacher allows the group to form a band and do what they love and enjoy, they start to thrive in school. Their grades improve, they become more popular, and they are doing what they love. This happens because a teacher allowed them to do what they enjoy, instead of telling them the exact way to work on a project. The teacher let them choose what they wanted to do, and because of it they learned how to succeed and how to enjoy school.

A majority of a students' year is spent in school. Summer break is very short, so they do not get much time at home. Teachers, however, still decide to assign projects and work that students will not enjoy doing over the summer. Teachers want their students to keep learning over the summer, and because of this, they take away students freedoms outside of school. Summer projects are not fun for students because they want to be enjoying their summer with their friends, not working on schoolwork; however, summer projects could be improved if schools allowed them to be generated by the students. Summer work should be created by students because it will allow them to enjoy what they work on, improve the quality of learning, and give them more time for themselves and friends. Students make plans over the summer to be with friends and family. Schools should respect students plans and free time by allowing summer projects to be student designed.