Once school is over, students finally can enjoy their long summer break after months of hard work. Despite this, many teachers require summer projects that can turn an exciting summer into one full of stress, procrastination, and boredom. Personally, I have experienced several teacher-designed summer projects that have been a hardship to complete and require me to do unnecessary amount of tedious work. I have always wished that there was some sort of alternative that could be educational and still allow me to enjoy it, such as student-designed projects. Summer projects should be student-designed instead of teacher-designed because the students will be more likely to complete it successfully and teacher-designed projects are far more restricting and dull.

Students are more likely to complete their project successfully if they design it themselves. In the past, I have experienced many summers in which I was assigned a specific teacher-designed project, and the majority of the students in my class did not have any motivation to do it. Often times, it leads to several students procrastinating and trying to finish the entire project days before the end of their break, or not doing it at all. However, during the school year we were given different types of projects that allow us to design them ourselves, I noticed that even students who procrastinate or don't complete their summer projects have a much more successful project when they design them. For example, during the school science fair, when the students were given the opportunity to do a project on their own, they were much more motivated to complete it and finished quicker. This resulted in many of them receiving 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards which clearly shows how much more successful they can be. Also, when students have the opportunity to design projects themselves, it is much more engaging because they are able to execute the project in the way they please. Once they are more focused and committed to what they like, they create more advanced and successful projects that can enhance their learning, as opposed to forcing students to doing something they have no interest to do in the first place. Allowing student-designed summer projects can help them complete their project successfully due to them being more motivated to do it and being able to choose what they want.

Teacher designed projects can be very restricting and dull, which can make students have a more difficult learning process. Since teachers and students have completely different perspectives, when teachers design projects they tend to forget to consider how the student may react to it. Teachers may pick projects that are not interesting for the student and don't catch the attention of them, which makes it much harder for the student to start the project or learn anything. Many teachers I have had in the past have assigned very restricting projects that leave no room for creativity or choice, which makes it nearly impossible for students to be interested in it. Once the student is not interested, their learning process has been completely hindered by their teachers since the students have no input or ability to be creative. Furthermore, when students are assigned a project they do not want to do in the first place, it makes it much harder for them to have the drive to even start the project, which prevents them from learning anything at all. It is much harder for students to learn, or anyone in general, when they have no interest in something or do not want to complete it. When teachers design projects themselves they don't give the students the ability to be creative, which leads to restricting and boring projects that prevent students from being able to adequately learn.

A valid argument that may be proposed by people in favor of teacher-designed summer projects is that student-designed projects won't continue to develop the learning that the teachers require. However, their is a simple way to ensure that the students are still learning while making student-designed projects; the teachers could make a basic rubric or requirement that may ask for a few topics or ideas to be covered while still allowing the students to design the projects on their own. For example, a Spanish language class could assign a student-designed summer project for students to demonstrate their Spanish speaking skills in any that they please, but may require the students to use 10 conjugated verbs. Doing so allows for a student to still be creative and design the project themselves and guarantee that the learning aspect is incorporated into their project. Also, by giving students freedom to design the project how they please, this allows them to do more research and exploring on their own, which can branch out their learning not only into the required curriculum, but also learn other valid information in the long run. When the students choose how they design their project, they will have be able to be more independent and this can teach the students various more topics and they can do tasks on their own without the teachers pressuring them. Allowing student-designed projects can still allow them to continue their learning in the summer because the students can have the ability to explore and research themselves, and teachers can still install a basic requirement that ensures their learning process but still gives the student freedom.

Summer projects should be student-designed because the students will be more likely to complete it successfully and teacher-designed projects are far more restricting and dull. Student-designed projects can open up a student's imagination and creativity, and also allow them to be independent and learn on their own. They will enjoy the project more and be stay motivated, allowing them to create a more successful project that can deepen their learning. In the end, they will have a great final project and still be able to have a great summer.