I remember as a freshman going into my sophomore I did not want to do a summer project because I wanted to just enjoy my summer and relieve myself of the stress from freshman year. Once I thought to myself that this project would actually help me with my sophomore year, despite the amount of work I would have to do, I decided to start working on it. As it turns out, doing the summer project helped me during the first week of school and I managed to earn three 100s for doing the summer project, which ultimately helped my first quarter grade. Despite the fact that a student-designed project would help a student learn in their own way and provide motivation to do the summer project, a teacher-designed project would ensure that the project is adequate for the grade level and it would enhance students' knowledge that becomes useful for the upcoming school year.

Even though a student would prefer to design their own project to ensure they are able to learn in their own way, a teacher would make sure the project has enough features so that it is adequate for the grade level and would benefit students for the upcoming school year. If I were to design a project for my benefit, I do not think I would be able to do so, even though it hinders my academic success. Instead, I would design it so that the project does not take me that much time to do, and as a result, it would not be what is suitable for my grade level and would not benefit me. However, with a teacher-designed project, it would require the proper amount of work to achieve academic success as well as stay within my grade level or higher. With a teacher's experience, they would know how to cater to how students are able to learn rather than just piling on a bunch of worksheets that do not help students. I do not think that there is any kind of project that is quick and extremely easy to do that helps to achieve academic success, which is what most students want and some expect. In order to have a project be quick and easy, it would have to be for a lower grade level and hinder a student's ability to grasp the knowledge. A teacher's job is to make sure every student is successful in their academic journey. By making it easier on a student in order to make sure they have an enjoyable summer break, a teacher would be neglecting their job and negatively impact a student further down their academic journey. A teacher-designed project would help prevent some students to cut corners in order to make it easier for themselves rather than making sure they can retain the knowledge needed for the next school year, even though a student-designed project is a great way to help students learn in their own way.

Although a summer break is meant to be enjoyable and relieve stress from the previous year for a student, a project designed by a teacher makes transitioning into a new class easier and enhance a student's knowledge that will become useful for the following school year. In my experience, doing the summer project allowed me to have a foundation of what I needed to know for the first week of school and made it a better transition to a higher level class. With that foundation, I did not have a hard time transitioning and boosted my grade dramatically. With a foundation that a student built with a teacher-designed project, enhancing their knowledge, the teacher does not have to waste time recapping the knowledge of the previous year and can focus on what the students need in order to be successful for their end of course tests. Sometimes with a class that has a number of standards to get through before the end of course test, a teacher can not teach all of those standards. As a result, students receive lower scores or put an extreme amount of pressure on themselves to learn these standards in a short amount of time. Because of the extra time a teacher has to teach all of the standards without spending a month or two recapping, students would not have to do that with the summer project. Despite being a labor-intensive project in a student's point of view, with a teacher-designed project, it becomes a win-win situation for both the student and the teacher and students ultimately can reap the benefits of their labor.

A student enhancing their own knowledge is amazing, however, it does not provide the motivation needed to do the summer project, but with the incentive of earning an extra grade, it solves the problem. Typically, teachers offer the incentive of earning an extra grade in order to motivate students to do the project. Ultimately, the extra grade helps the first grade and the final grade which is a benefit way better than having a fun and enjoyable summer. It is still possible to have an enjoyable summer with a summer project, but with the mindset of thinking about how labor-intensive it is, students lose motivation to complete the project. When I had to do a summer project, at first, I did not have the motivation to do my project, but after a friend told me we would get an extra grade, it motivated me to start on it. If it were not for the incentive of getting an extra grade, I probably would not have done the summer project, hindering me from achieving academic success. With the motivation a teacher is able to provide, a student-designed project is not necessary for the purposes of having motivation to do the actual project.

Even though there are many benefits to a student-designed project, a teacher-designed project truly ensures students are getting the proper educational experience with the motivation a student needs.

A summer project gives students a sense of relief knowing that in the upcoming school year they have already built up a foundation for their higher level class and do not need to worry about the transition. With my experience, a student-designed project would not have the same benefits as one designed by a teacher. If I did not have a teacher-designed project, it would have negatively impacted my sophomore year.