As the word 'summer' enters you mind, the thought of a beaming sun, turbulent waves, and tropical islands may subconsciously enter your mind. Summer time is the longest break given to students within the United States education system, this evokes the fear that with all this time spent out of school, students will begin loosing their ability to learn. Some schools are deciding to tackle this issue by administering summer projects during break to assure that students continue their education. With that being said, the question of who gets to design these projects must be asked. Should teachers be given another responsibility on their shoulders? Or should students be given the freedom to create their own educational project? To ensure that students receive both a resting period from the rigor of school while maintaining their educational abilities, they should be given the ability to design their own summer project. By allowing students to do so, projects can be tailored to meet individual academic rigor, be altered to fit personal goals of the students, and provides a more fun and engaging activity which will motivate them to learn.

It is no surprise that each student in the educational system has their own set of challenges and intellectual abilities. Forcing the same content to each student completely neglects this fact. Some students may feel extremely challenged while others may feel as if they are not being challenged enough. To combat this issue, students should be provided the ability to choose the rigor of their own summer project. As a result, each student will be challenged just enough, to the point where are are 'on their toes' academically, but do not feel consumed by the content of the work itself. Many of the world's accomplished scientists felt suffocated in the curriculum mandated environment of school, and were only able to thrive when afforded the opportunity to curate their own work. For example, Albert Einstein. Einstein himself struggled in school and eventually lead to him leaving the education system. His greatest findings, however, came when he was given the ability to create his own project. By doing so, Einstein could find things that challenged him, even though it was different from what the school system had implemented. Some people may argue that allowing students to set the bar on their own academic rigor will allow them a scapegoat to choose easy topics. Education is a self discovered path that must be navigated by the student. Apart from the fact that teachers already have so much on their plate, and adding project planning on top will place more stress on them, a student has the right to challenge themselves as needed. This does not mean that a student is alone in this path. Teachers should be given the ability to approve and/or disapprove of project ideas. Therefore, both parties can find a happy medium. The intensity of the project being custom tailored to the student will allow them to better comprehend the information in a way that is not driving a hatred towards education

With that being said, student-designed projects also give children the opportunity to focus their content around personal goals and interests. The project itself can be used as an exploration tool for student in what they hope to be their future career, or a subject they show high levels of interest in. For example, a student interested in medicine has the opportunity to learn about medicine; this way she has more context when deciding what she would like to do in the future. If teachers were to design their projects, it would be impossible to ensure that the interests of every single student is met, hence, allowing students to decide what they choose to learn about warrants the ability for them to learn what they love. This information they gain could deem to be vital when they decide minor things such as what classes to take the following year, all the way to larger aspects such as what careers they would enjoy. Many of the top chief executive officers in technology companies struggled with this situation. Their schools did to provide them the ability to explore different topics and careers, hence they left and decided to tackle it themselves. People like Bill Gates on the other hand were given opportunities in school to explore computers and software, he credits all his success to these very opportunities given to him. This demonstrates the importance of sanctioning the ability for students to learn about their focuses, this way they will not only learn, but understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Finally, by allowing students to design their own project, the learning aspect becomes more exciting and engaging. Motivation is essential when trying to get students to learn and cooperate. This characteristic can be hard to cultivate when students are forced to learn subjects that do not excite them. If given the opportunity to choose their own projects, students will pick something that intrigues them. This curiosity will make it easier for them to want to learn and eventually continue learning. Many successful people end up doing well in fields that are similar to their favorite subject in school. This shows the probable direct relationship between enjoyment in subjects and eventual work ethic when it comes to these subjects. Some may argue that this will prompt students to choose a childish project, however it is important to remember that there are still guidelines placed on the project. Teachers should still be granted the ability to view proposed project topics and either accept or reject them. Nonetheless, enjoyable projects will motivate students to actively learn.

Summer should no longer represent a time where students loose previously gain knowledge. Education is an extremely important aspect of student's lives and to ensure that they foster their love and passion for learning, students should be given the opportunity to design their personal summer projects.