The majority of students use their summer vacation as a time to take a break from constant learning and unwind by spending time with friends and family. Learning for the majority of the year can be mentally exhausting and induce stress upon students. Most of what students learn is directed by the teacher and students do not have the choice to pick what they want to learn about. Summer projects should be student-designed because it gives students the chance to express their creative abilities, motivation to complete the assignment, and they have the opportunity to learn what they are interested in.

Summer projects designed by students will allow for students to have the choice to express their creative abilities. Many individuals are creative, especially over the summer when students are outside either traveling or spending time with their loved ones because it can bring ideas of what to make the project about. I have experienced a burst of creativity during the summer, especially when traveling, because I get the opportunity to view and experience many new things that give me ideas to create a project. When I traveled to Puerto Rico, I saw the rich culture of Puerto Rican art and was inspired to create a project inspired by their culture. I have met other students who are extremely talented and have made art that is different than just a poster or painting. In seventh grade, I had the opportunity to create a project on plant cells and the objective was demonstrate the parts of a plant cell however we wanted, it was student-designed. I got an old book I have read multiple times, cut a hole inside the book and created a sculpture out of a plant cell within book. I received an excellent grade and my teacher was very fascinated by what I made. If students had the ability to make their own project, they would have the choice to make something that is out of the box and not be limited to what a teacher allows.

Student-designed projects could inspire a student to be more motivated to complete it to the best of their ability instead of leaving the project last minute made with minimum effort. Most students are more inclined to do something they like or want to do rather than do something they are forced or not want to do. When I am forced to work on an assignment I am not interested in, I tend to put it off and make it the last thing I need to do. Most of my peers are like this as well and tend to leave the assignment last minute leading up to a product that is not the best. One time at dance, I was given the opportunity to make a dance combination with any style of dance I chose and teach it to my peers in two weeks. Dance is something that I love so I was motivated to complete this assignment and made a dance combination within that week and put in maximum effort. If summer projects allow for a student to do what they love, then I am sure that more students will complete their assignment quicker and with maximum effort.

Students will have the chance to learn something they are interested in that could benefit their future careers if summer assignments were student-designed. Students creating a project they want can be beneficial because they can research and experience things they are interested in that could lead them to a career path. This could be extremely beneficial for seniors in high school who are undecided and are looking for internships to see what field of work they want to be in. I have met someone who had the choice to design her own summer project and she traveled to South America and taught dance classes there and that inspired her to go to school to become a professional dance teacher. This also insures that students are still learning over the summer, but are learning material that could benefit them and will not forget about. Student-designed summer projects have many upsides and could decrease the amount of undecided students and help guide individuals to choose the right path for themselves.

Student-designed summer projects not only allow for students to be motivated and creative, but it can also be beneficial and guide them towards a career path. Although some may say that students will choose something simple and will not learn important content because of the freedom given to them, I do not agree because people learn through every day experiences and are more likely to put more thought into their research instead of putting in minimum effort in something they are not interested in. Giving students the freedom of doing what they choose is beneficial and everyone should be allowed to research what they are interested in because it is beneficial and fulfilling at the end for the student and teachers.