Making the most of summer
Summer is fast approaching, and some of you may have already broken up from school. This summer is quite different to the last few you've had for quite obvious reasons. However, things are getting better - we are slowly getting out of lockdown and more and more things are opening up. If all goes well, in England we will have little to no social restrictions by June 21st! We will hopefully finally get a good break and make sure to take some time for yourself, doing what you want and preparing yourself for the next academic year.
One of the most important things you can do this summer is take a break. Relax. Watch those shows that you may not have had time to during the academic year, go and meet your friends if it’s safe, enjoy the sunshine and try not to think about school/education for a bit. It’s been a stressful year being in and out of lockdowns and the uncertainty of the pandemic and having no exams hasn’t necessarily alleviated the pressure on students.Use your summer to have some time for yourself and forget about all these complications. Normal life is hopefully on the horizon and in the meantime we’ll just keep managing as well as we can.
If you have time and if there are any opportunities available, see if you can fit a week of work experience in for yourself. This will help you in deciding what careers you may want to consider for the future and possibly what A-level subjects/uni courses you may want to look at as a result of this. If you’re still not sure about these options, speak to people who have done the subjects and courses you’re looking at and ask them how they found it and why they did them, if you have similar motivations and like the sound of it, you’ll hopefully start to realise what it is you want to do. But don’t occupy your whole summer with activities like this, taking a break and relaxing comes first.
You might have some outstanding coursework due after the summer, some A-level prep work or you might have been asked to start working on your personal statement. If this is the case, try not to leave everything until the very last minute. You’ll be naturally inclined to hold it off for as long as you can, but panicking about it and doing it the night before your first day back isn’t the best way to start the new academic year. Try spreading all the work out over the last week of your holidays.
See if there’s anything new you can try during the summer holidays. It could be taking up a new hobby/learning a new skill or going somewhere you haven’t been before. In the adult world, you don’t get 6 weeks or more to yourself to do pretty much whatever you want, so see if you can make the most of it by giving yourself a new experience to remember.
Most importantly, stay safe. Having fun is essential, but your safety and the safety of others comes first. There are people all around us who are very vulnerable to the coronavirus, so whatever you do, take care, and enjoy yourself!
