Does your school require a summer project? Would you rather be able to choose the subject of said project? If a student chooses their subject they would most likely: not get bored, enjoy the project, and get a better grade. If a teacher assigns a summer project with a specific topic that the student wouldn't want to talk about, would make the summer a bore.

If the student chooses their topic it will be something they have interest in, therefore they will enjoy doing the project. If they enjoy the project they won't get bored, and if they don't get bored then there will be a better finished product rather than the rushed, I don't want to do this, procrastinated project that the teacher would get if it was on a topic set by the teacher.

In the end, if the student picks their topic, there will be a better outcome for everyone. Every student wants the freedom of being able to do something they enjoy in school. If everything you do in school is what the teacher wants then the students will get bored, therefore getting lazy and making the teacher look bad. We don't want teachers to look bad, because we as students need them in order to better our lives, so therefore a summer project should be on a topic the student picks.