Learning is the most important thing an individual can do in an unfamiliar enviroment, whether it is academic or non-academic. When a a school assigns work, it is for one of two reasons: For practice, or to learn. Summer vacation is a long period, long enough for many students to forget what they're doing. However, only the student knows what he or she needs to practice or work on to sharpen their skills. Summer projects should be student-designed because only the individual student knows what they must do to improve upon themselves.

Firstly, more often than not, students postpone projects until the very last iota of time they have recieved to complete a project, or worse, even start on the project. If the projects were student-designed this most likely wouldn't be a problem. While not necessarily the best option for those with creative issues, having a summer project be student-designed means that the student would grasp what they were doing more, because who knows the students' limits better than the student themselves? For example; if I recieved a project designed by a teacher, i would most likely be discouraged, because i'd have to fill a teaching professionals' expectations, which are undoubtedly larger than most students' expectations. In comparison, if myself or another student were the one designing the project, I would be more enthiusiastic in my completion of aforementioned project, because I'd realize subconsciously that if it claims to be student-designed, that means the expectations I must meet are most likely smaller than if the project were teacher-designed. This means that theres more of a chance that the student would turn in his or her project on time, instead of asking for an extension, due to the fact they stayed up all night writing one singular paragraph while they spent the entire summer hanging about with their friends.

Additionally, if a project is student-designed, it's more relatable. Many teachers admriably try to keep pace with students in terms of relatabillity, they try their best to find out whats occuring in their students mood and media, but they end up failing numerous times and instead, end up looking like they want to be the "cool teacher", which is definitely not relatable. Many times Teachers, or the school board, choose unrelatable prompts for essays, and concepts for projects that just aren't interesting to the student body. In most circles, students usually know what their peers are interested in. Many essays that are written over the summer have prompts such as; "What did you learn over the summer? provide specific examples of how you've learned these things, and cite it in MLA format." In truth, thats far too formal for a project that's supposed to be written about something the student is passionate about. Instead of the aforementioned prompt, a student would most likely assemble one that looks more like; "What are a few things you enjoyed this summer? Provide the history of these hobbies or activities and cite your sources where possible." This approach puts far less stress on the student and overall helps their morale, whilst still remaining relatable.

Lastly, Students need to find something they'll actually learn from and enjoy in a project. Many students come from under-privileged families who can't afford to go on a true vacation over the summer, including myself, and this approach results in guilt and panic from them when a project is chosen to be written about something special they had done over the summer because not everyone can afford to go out to Disney World, or Six Flags America, or even travel for the summer like the use to. For example; A lot of those families just stay home and live out the normal lives, just doing simple things like oversleeping to relax. in the time of many teachers' childhoods, it was not like this. Instead of asking what they had done over the summer, projects should inquire what they enjoyed over the summer. Many students have steady hobbies or workplaces that they enjoy practicing and attending, and it would be wise to ask them of this, as these are things they are passionate about, and who better to write the instructions for such a project than a student?

In Conclusion, if schools are to have summer projects, they should be student-designed, because it would benefit the student more in the long-term than if they were teacher-designed.