One of the most truly modern American experiences has got to be voicing one's opinion on a subject they have little to know knowlege or experience with to the world. Unfortunately, today my opinion will not be voiced to the world as this is a SOL test, but it will be a scarecly informed opinion for sure. I have the privilige of never being assigned a project by a school over the summer, but today's prompt has drawn something to my attention that I never quite thought about before- That these summer projects assigned by schools should absolutely be designed by the students who have to do them as they can then be tailored to fit the students interests and schedules, within reason of course.

Starting off positive, the most obvious pro of student designed summer projects is the creative liberty. Students would not only be free to pick whatever topic or subject they like, but the form their project takes. A student could go the conventional route and do a presentation with a trifold or something similar, or go in the opposite direction and hold a workshop explaining why purple light doesn't technically exist, complete with interactive features. They may even incorporate their other summer activities into their project, as a student traveling to France for the summer might research a part of French history and include their own photos that they took that relate to the topic. Speaking of other summer activities, students with jobs, internships, or anything else that may take up multiple hours of the day could then ensure that the project they give themself is something that they can handle.

Now that I've explained all the wonderful pros of student designed projects, lets reign it back in a bit and disscuss the cons and some solutions to those cons along with my mildly valid expertise. I've been a girl scout since I was in elementary school and for the past few summers been doing research for a gold award project, the highest honor that a girl scout can earn. The main focus of a gold award is of course the project, which is designed entirely by the scout, may take anywhere from a couple of months to a year, and a proposal of said project has to be approved by a council.

Granted, this is on a bit of a larger scale compared to a school summer project, but there are some good ideas that could be drawn from this. Approval of the project idea could ensure that the projects have genuine learning value, and could be approved by the student's counselor. Conselors would then also see to that students give themselves proper workloads, ensuring that they don't overwork themselves, or take the easy route either. Putting a deadline on the approval might also help encourage students to at least think about their project a bit before the night it's due. Gold awards also look good on college applications, and allowing students to make their projects something that they would be so proud of to put on a college application could be a boost in motivation for those college-bound.

The concept of allowing students to have this much control over a project as we move towards an education system where the students are being allowed more control and freedom day by day can be truly great when done correctly. Which can absolutely happen, when necessary restraints are given. It simply requires more work on everyone's part, and considering that educational instititions are supposed to be preparing entire generations for life itself, and not just a workplace or university, that shouldn't be too hard? Perhaps I put too much faith in this but I truly do hope to see the day when students are proactive enough to go about these sorts of things on their own, not for a grade or award, but to better themselves and the world around them.