Summer projects are notorious for being not only extremely uninteresting, but incredibly easy to put off. While teachers have tried to find ways of captivating students by giving a variety of choices or making it more hands on, they always miss the real reason why students seems to loathe these assignments. I believe that it all comes down to student choice. Society teaches us that we are all different in our own ways and that people want to do different things, but this is not demonstrated in our schools. A step forward into integrating more individual-focused work is by starting off with one of the most hated assignments for all children, summer projects. Having student-designed projects would give students the chance to explore topics they're interested in, control over how they want they're project to turn out, and incentives creative thinking.

The most common response I get from my peers when we get a project over the summer is, "Why would I need to know about this?". This leads to them not caring about the outcome of their assignment and putting minimal effort into it, thus leading to lackluster scores. This could be absolved by letting them choose what they want to learn more about. Seeing that it is the summertime, I believe that students shouldn't be tied down to one subject, but use their break to learn whatever they feel that they need to put more time into. Even if it has to revolve around one subject, they should have the option to include aspects of other subjects that they would find more enjoyable. Giving them the option to choose where they want their time to be spent would open up different avenues for them to take their learning.

Students want more control over how they want their work to turn out. Giving strict restraints on how the project should be about and its formatting disincentives students who work at a slower pace and holds back those who work faster. Rather than molding the student to fit into the curriculum, make the curriculum easier to mold. Give students the best opportunity to grow and succeed rather than holding them to a set standard that all can't meet. We all have different preferences and learning levels and our work should reflect those differences.

Letting them design their own projects would challenge them to think creatively. With the option to take aspects of multiple subjects and to illustrate it in a precise manner, you would have to think of creative ways to present it. This would force students to think carefully about what information they want to include and the undertones that it could have, just like in real world presentations. With the choices that would be given to them, students would have to find the right combination of formats and subjects that would most accurately reflects their goal.

While some would say that it could lead to students choosing the easiest route, I believe this comes from a place of little faith. Given the chance to learn more about something that actually interests them, I think that most students would jump on the chance. The reason why students, especially high school students, seem so apathetic is that we aren't interested. We feel as if we're just going through the motions of school and that summer projects are just a way to bleed more of our time away. The problem isn't the student, but how the system is set in place.

Summer projects have always been a chore to do. From the uninteresting topics, to the fact that it's during the summer has always made students dread, but if these projects were designed by the students, I think we would see a sharp spike in enthusiasm around their arrival. Being able to choose the topic, have control over how it turns out, and the need to actually think creatively would excite students and teachers alike. Giving us the chance to express ourselves would be the right direction for summer projects.