Sometimes over the summer, teachers will assign summer projects to students. This can put a damper on some students' summers and overall make them unhappy. However, if students were allowed to design their own summer projects it would improve upon their learning and enjoyment of their break.

A lot of the time when students are assigned a project on something they don't know much about or aren't very interested in, they'll be less inclined to do the project. For example, in third grade, I entered the science fair. For the competition we were able to choose our topic rather than be assigned one. My partner and I were much more excited after finding out we could choose because that meant we would get to do our research on something we were interested and passionate about. Our passion drove us to get first place in the science fair. I don't think we would have worked as hard or been as diligent if we hadn't had the ability to choose. Another time I think of choice impacting achievement is in eighth grade. My English teacher conducted an experiment without telling any of her students. In the first quarter of the year she assigned us a paper that we could write about any topic of our choice. Later, in the third quarter, she assigned us a paper with a prompt. Even though we had learned more writing skills and were more skilled authors by the third quarter, most of the essay scores from the first quarter were better. She said just by reading the two different essays you could tell which subjects students were passionate about, and the grades reflected that. If students were able to design their own projects, they would be able to choose their topics, therefore inciting passion and improving upon grades.

The main reason teachers assign summer projects is to add on to students' learning, right? Well, a lot of the time, if students are not interested in what they're learning, they're less prone to absorbing the information. Taking it back to my third grade science fair, a lot of my peers did a topic that their parents chose for them. Without that passion or drive behind their work, many of them did not take in any of the information they put on their tri-fold. My partner and I on the other hand, were very interested in our topic and wanted to learn as much as we could about it so we worked and studied hard. To this day I could still tell you how to make the best all natural carpet cleaner, and it was because we got to choose what our project was about. A more recent example from my life is my grades in my junior year courses. I'm personally enrolled in four classes this year, the two I see the biggest difference in grade are my film class and my math class. Film is a topic that I'm very interested in and makes me very happy. Math on the contrary, not so much. The two classes are polar opposites in the realm of stress vs. enjoyment, and my grades reflect that. It may have something to do with the course rigor, but in my opinion it has everything to do with interest and motivation. I'm much more inclined to do a film project because it brings me happiness while also engaging me and helping me receive good grades. When I look at a math assignment I'm nowhere near motivated to do it, which in turn brings down my mood and my grade because I don't put my all into the subject. Therefore I don't take in any of the information, whereas in my film class I could write you a paper on everything that we've learned since day one. Such is true for a majority of students; where interest and enjoyment peaks, so does information intake.

If you ask the average student what their favorite time of year is, they'll probably answer summer. No school, warm weather, free time, fun. But when there's a project lingering over their head that they have no choice over and no interest in, it can really throw a wrench in their mood and plans. An unhappy student brews an unhappy school year, and I'm sure no teachers want that. Upon talking with many of my peers, I've come to realize that a summer assignment with no choice and no fun involved immediately creates resentment and a general dislike towards the class and the teacher involved. If students are obligated to do an boring project where the teacher has put strict guidelines, they're going to walk into the class with a preconceived notion of a boring, uninteresting course. This is going to weaken classroom morale and overall diminish scores and productivity in the classroom. However, if students are able to create their own project and do something their passionate about in relation to a course they're taking, it will ultimately make them excited to be in the class and increase their ability to succeed. I remember in my chemistry class last year, I was able to make videos for my labs. It made me excited every day to attend my science class and increased my desire to learn about chemistry. With choice comes happiness, with a happy summer comes a happy new school year.

When it comes to summer projects and assignments, choice is always the route to follow. With a student-created project, students are more driven, ascertain more information, and overall have a better summer, which leads to a better school year. By comparing grades from class to class, paper to paper, or even just asking a student, it's not hard to conclude that with the ability to choose comes success in school.