Summer is anticipated by eager students across the country from the moment the school year begins. Days spent stressing over homework, extracurricular activities, and grades are soon replaced by laughter and relaxation. Though students wish their short summer break could be free of worries, summer projects tend to bring their enjoyable vacation to a halt. Students begin racing to finish their excessive summer workload comprised of uninteresting busy work that seems to serve little purpose to the upcoming class curriculum. When the school year starts these summer projects are often graded and forgotten about, leaving students to wonder why they bothered to put in the effort. To combat this issue, summer projects should be student-designed to ensure that students are interested and invested in the work they are doing. Student-designed projects would also provide clarity in terms of rules and requirements and make sense in the time line that students are personally allotted.

One over-arching problem encountered by students completing summer projects is that the work is incredibly uninteresting and irrelevant. Most summer assignments require students to purchase and read multiple books or complete endless packets of review work. These assignments do not excite students to take learning into their own hands and often inspire a negative attitude towards individual work. If summer projects were student designed, they could be individually fitted to the interests of a student. By high school, many students are aware of their favorite subject and have started to consider their future career path. With this knowledge, students could design a project that helps them to excel in that subject or in that field. Students will be more likely to complete a project if it aligns with their goals and is beneficial to their mental development.

Another issue among summer assignments is their size. Teachers sometimes forget that summer is a busy time for students. Many students have to work full time jobs to help save money for the upcoming year. Others are devoting their time to internships, educational camps, or summer intensives to help themselves learn and grow in a specific area of interest. Along with this, students are on vacations, at summer camp, or simply relaxing with their family and friends. Students are aware of their personal busy summer schedules and should therefore be able to design a manageable assignment that accommodates to their life. Some students simply don't have the time to read multiple books or complete an online class for every core subject. Student-designed projects would allow for a reasonable workload that can be completed in a short time line.

Finally, students are not always aware of the expectations of their teachers and the requirements of the project. Going into a new school year, most students have not met their new teachers and are definitely not aware of their grading style and expectations. It comes as a shock to most students when they receive bad grades for assignments they put hours of their summer into. If projects were to become student-designed, they could work with a teacher to create their own rubric and guidelines. They could also meet with their new teachers to discuss their project so there is no confusion when it is graded at the beginning of the year. Rules and regulations designed by students are more likely to be understood and followed. Student-designed projects would be completed with more clarity and students would be fully aware of the expectations before heading into their break.

Summer is a great opportunity for students to learn, grow, and prepare for the upcoming school year. Though in the past summer projects have felt painful and unnecessary, they don't have to be. Projects created by students are far more likely to inspire a love of learning and will lead to greater success in school and in life. These projects still need to be approved and edited by teachers before their completion, but offering students the opportunity to take learning into their own hands is the future of education. If summer projects become student-designed, they are more likely to have a beneficial impact on students instead of a detrimental one.