With the summer holidays upon us, the stretch of weeks away from university campus can feel both exciting and a little overwhelming for students.
How should you spend your days without reading for your course, exam prep, and coursework?
While some revel in holidays overseas and time spent with family, others choose to stay near to their university towns and cities, enjoying the place that has come to feel like a new and exciting home.
In this blog, we’ve pulled together a collection of ideas to help students make the most of their summer break – combining relaxing ideas with productive tasks you can be getting on with.
Productive: Prepare for the Upcoming Year
We don’t just mean studying and getting ahead on the reading list – although this is recommended by many course tutors and university lecturers.
Preparing yourself for the upcoming year also means ensuring that you know your deadlines and exam schedule, and that you have somewhere lined up and ready to move into in September.
Many university students use the summer term to iron out their accommodation for the upcoming year and will choose to spend time in the summer holidays moving their possessions and getting ready for the new term. While some landlords will use the summer holidays to make updates and fixes to the house in preparation for new tenants, some accommodation is open to students all through the summer.
Relaxing: Book a holiday
It doesn’t have to be an expensive holiday – it doesn’t even need to be overseas. Taking time away from both university and from life back at home is important, whether you choose to take that break with family or friends.
Many university students worry about reconnecting with friends over the summer and other breaks, concerned about having taken their lives in different directions from their school and college friends. Booking a holiday away together puts you all on neutral ground and offers the perfect opportunity to catch up and share stories with none of the pressures and worries of routine.
Productive: Get a Job
If you’re keen to enter the upcoming university year with a little more money in your pocket, then the summer holidays are the perfect time to get a job.
From bar work to working as a shop assistant or supporting a local summer festival or attraction, getting a job will help to secure that independence you felt while away at university and will boost your funds for the upcoming year.
Getting a job will also look great on your CV and will help with future work experience and placement applications – especially if you can find a job that’s connected with your area of study.
Relaxing: Read Books That Aren’t on Your Reading List!
This is a big one. During the university term, every moment of reading time tends to be taken up by course books and research for your lectures and coursework.
Use the summer break as a chance to step away from your course reading list and pick up a book that you love or that has been on your to-read list for a while. Of course, you may find that as the summer goes on you need to start thinking about course books and getting ready for the first Autumn term – however, the early days of summer are for rom-coms and all your favourite thrillers!
Productive: Learn Some New Skills
This is a super flexible option because what you choose to do will largely depend on what you are already good at and what you are passionate about.
You wouldn’t believe how many university students return home after their first year away, suddenly keen to learn how to cook, sew, and perform other tasks that will make everyday life away from home much easier.
But outside of those more domestic skills, you could also use the summer holidays as a chance to try out a new sport that you’re keen on picking up at university. Exposure to the diverse range of clubs and societies available across most campuses can ignite interest in sports and activities you never previously considered – with the summer break a good time to try something out and see if it’s a good fit.
Relaxing: Go Travelling
There are plenty of ways of doing this, whether you opt for a local adventure or something further afield.
But far from the relaxing holidays and catch ups with friends that we mentioned earlier, the concept of travelling is much more immersive.
When you finish university and land your first job, you will suddenly come to appreciate the freedom you had to travel during university – with this blog being your sign to enjoy and make the most of that freedom while you can.
Just like traditional school holidays, your university summer break means time away from campus with no real expectations beyond a little bit of prep work. Don’t waste it!
Spend Your Summer Your Way
Most importantly, remember that your summer break is yours to enjoy. From earning money to splashing the cash on overseas adventures or diving headfirst into a favourite book alongside a glass of wine, summer is the perfect time for a reset.
It’s important to bridge productive ventures with relaxing ones during this extended break, so that you can return to university again in September feeling fresh and ready to get back to work (and more than a few Freshers parties!)
Enjoy your summer break – you’ve earned it!
