When someone says the word summer, people don't generally think about classrooms, or tardy bells, or chalkboards. Rather, about freedom from all of those things. Summer is a much needed break from the stressful conditions of school, however, whenever summer is ending and it's time to start heading back to school, students sometimes find themselves forgetting most of what they learned the year before. Some schools are requiring students to complete projects over the summer to ensure that they keep learning outside of the classroom, and to keep what they have learned the year before, fresh in their minds. These projects should be student-designed because summer should not be a continuation of school, students are more likely to do a project if they get to choose what it is, and it gives students the opportunity to excel and be given more trust.

Summer is the time of year where students generally feel stress-free. There's no due dates, and no pressing homework. If these mandatory projects were teacher-designed, summer would feel more like school, and then students would have a bad connotation with the word summer. Sometimes people brush under the rug how stressful school can actually be to students, and summer is a much needed break. Though students do need to continue learning, it would be hard for a teacher to assign a project that fit everyone's specific needs and was appropriate for all students outside of the classroom. Summer break was installed for a reason, because if students go to school for 12 months, they'll more than likely get burnt out and will lose the motivation to learn. If students are allowed to design their own projects, they won't see it as school, but as fun.

Students-no matter what age; kids, pre-teens, teenagers- haven't fully developed yet. They don't know who they are, or what they want, or what they believe in, because all they've known is their parents and the little bubble they live in for the first 18 years of their life. They try to find themselves everyday, they try to discover what their identity is. If students were able to design their own over the summer projects, they would be more likely to do it. There comes a point during childhood when people start to question authority, and start to become rebellious because they think they know what's best for themselves. At some point, kids have to be given that freedom in order for them to fail, gain humility, and then try again. If teachers were the ones designing the projects, students would be less likely to do it, and their grades would suffer.

Teachers will generally tell you that trust is everything. If you don't have trust then you have nothing. Getting to pick your own project as a student, I would be elated. It shows that your teacher trusts that you will make the right decision and that you will get it done. The projects should differ from child to child because if one child wants to excel, then the limitations on the project to make another student comfortable, should not restrict him. Student-designed projects gives the students opportunity to excel in learning and to gain more trust from their teachers. Students usually have breakthroughs at least once during the years they are in school, when they start to realize that what they're learning is important and they start to care about what it is that they're learning, and learning becomes less like a burden and more like a privilege. Designing their own projects could spurr on this breakthrough and help students to realize that school isn't as bad as once anticipated.

Summer should be a break from all the things that cause stress in the everyday lives of students. It should be a time to unwide and relax. Schools are beginning to issue over-the summer projects to make sure that the students keep learning, and remember what they have previously learned. These projects should be student-designed because summer should not be a continuation of school, students are more likely to do a project if they get to choose what it is, and it gives students the opportunity to excel and be given more trust. This will ensure that students stay happy over the summer, while teachers are equally as happy knowing that all of their hard work to educate the students has not gone to waste.