By: Ricza Lopez (Buffalo State College)
Follow Ricza On Twitter
School is out people….yay! You get so excited about the summertime that you didn’t make plans and have to figure out how to make the best of the season that is only about two and a half months long for us college students (yes, please shake your head). Have no fear, we have some tips here that will help you make the most of your summer.
One way to be productive this season is to take online summer classes. Whether you would like to get ahead in credits or graduate early, online classes provide you with the ability to get work done without the hassle of walking to buildings and classes on campus. To make sure your brain stays fresh as well, make it your business to read newspapers and magazines to stay on top of up to date information.
Now onto the fun stuff. Your typical cliches of what to do in the summer include the following: going to the beach with some friends, having a picnic or a cookout, and getting a job. Take some of these played out activities and revamp them. Wear your bathing suit and get crazy in front of sprinklers or a fire hydrant. Be the host/hostess for a lunch or dinner and invite your friends over. Everyone and their mother is competing to get that seasonal summer job but as a college student, make the best of it by getting an internship that is related to your major. It sucks that most intersnhips are unpaid, but the great thing about it all is that the experience is what counts and this is what employers look for in their potential candidates.
The next thing I suggest is trying to do some things that you would not normally do. Take a really good look around the neighborhood where you live. There has got to be a place that you never went to or an area that you do not normally walk by – take a stroll and see what you can discover. Go to a museum, attend music festivals at your local park, and visit famous monuments that all the tourists go to. Feel like you are exploring that area for the first time all over again. If the funds are there, go to another country for a few weeks or days, go on a cruise, visit another hometown or state to get that cultural infusion insight.
Last but not least, bring out the kid in you by making arts and cratfs, flying a kite, going to the zoo, camping and hiking and going on tours. By doing such things, you can go back into the good old days when everything was carefree. If nothing else, it’s a great excuse to get messy as hell, wouldn’t you think?
There are a million and one possibilities of things that college students can do to enjoy your summer safely and carefree. The most important thing of all would be that no matter what activity you choose to do, make sure you are enjoying it with either friends or family because they make any experience that better. Happy Summer!
