How to spend your summer vocation

Thoughts of summer vacation may include images of time at the beach or lake, lazy days escaping the heat, and no thought of classes or the stress of the past two semesters. However, there are plenty of productive ways you can spend your summer that can be fun, relaxing, helpful for your education or career, or just downright lucrative for your pocketbook. Check out this list of 100 productive ways to spend your summer vacation for inspiration.

volunteer Opportunities

Whether you are looking for a day-long project or one that lasts the entire vacation, these volunteer opportunities are an excellent way to spend a productive summer.

1. Join a park clean-up day. Local parks, hiking trails, and beaches often sponsor clean-up days where the public can come out and help clean trash and make simple repairs.
2. Become a big brother or big sister. Mentoring organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters can match you with a child who needs someone to look up to.
3. Coach a sports team. If you love a sport, be it soccer, baseball, or tennis, and like working with kids, then there are plenty of chances for you to volunteer to coach a team.
4. Volunteer at a retirement home. Make visits to retirement homes just to chat, offer a presentation, do art, share some music, or bring your Wii in and hold a tournament.
5. Turn your pet into a therapy dog. Any type of dog who is good natured and loves people may qualify to become a therapy dog. Become qualified, then take your pooch on visits to children’s hospitals, retirement homes, respite care facilities, or anyplace therapy dogs are welcome and bring some joy to those who may not be able to keep pets.
6. Deliver meals. Meals on Wheels provides meals for the elderly or infirm and is always looking for volunteers to bring those meals to the clients. This is a simple way to make a big difference.

Travel

The lure of travel is appealing to many, but the cost can sometimes make it prohibitive. Travel is a productive way to spend your vacation, and below you will find plenty of ideas on how to make that happen.

• Be an overseas camp counselor. Travel during the summer, learn a new culture, meet some awesome kids, and get paid by being an overseas camp couns

• YMCA Study Tours. These your-round tours will take you to global destinations to learn about the region. They cost money, but for many, scholarships are available

• Study abroad. Many companies and schools offer opportunities for study abroad during the summer. Travel and get college credits or work experience with these opportunities.

Expand your Knowledge

Take advantage of your down time to open your mind to new knowledge and experiences with these ideas that include education vacations, new hobbies, and open courseware classes.

• Read. Make a list of books you’ve always wanted to read or find a list of best-sellers and give yourself plenty of reading for the summer. Share your finds on websites such as Shelfari or GoodReads.

• Take an education vacation. Instead of just taking a vacation with no purpose, take a vacation where you can learn something. Use a site like Texas Education Vacation to plan a trip or use your own interests to seek opportunities to learn about the region, people, culture, and history of wherever you go.

• Take a non-academic class. Maybe you think that since classes are over for the summer you should stay away from school, but now is a great time to take informal classes to learn art, music, pottery, or any other subject that interests you.

• Learn to play an instrument. If you’ve always wanted to learn the guitar or play the piano, summer vacation is a perfect time to learn how to play.

• Learn a language. Take classes, go online, or buy some books or software to help learn a new language. Whether you go on vacation later or can use that skill for language requirements at school, you’ll be on your way to speaking the language.

• Take up a new hobby. If you’ve always wanted to make a model airplane, learn to knit, collect coins, or any other hobby you can imagine, while school is out is the perfect time to learn new hobbies.

• Learn to cook. Specialty grocery stores and high end houseware stores often offer cooking classes. You can also find instructional videos online or just purchase some cookbooks and learn by experience.

• Visit museums. Check out the museums in your town, then venture out to nearby towns and see what they have to offer. Exploring museums is an easy and inexpensive way to expand your knowledge.

• Build something. Whether a bookshelf or a birdhouse, build something. Not only will you learn a useful skill that you can put to use later when you own a home, but you can use this opportunity for a creative outlet, too.

• Take a geek vacation. Read this article to find eleven great vacations for geeks. You won’t be sitting at home on your computer all day with these ideas.

• Take an open courseware class. MIT and other universities around the world are making many of their past courses available free of charge online. These courses typically include such elements as the syllabus, course reading material, lectures, and projects.

• Watch a university lecture online. Choose from 17 subjects and find video lectures from professors at top-rated universities at Academic Earth.

Earn Extra Money

If you devote all your time to school work during the semester, then take advantage of your break from that responsibility to build up your bank account with these ways for making extra money.

• Be a camp counselor. A great summer job, these temporary positions are just for the summer and will have you outside doing fun projects while being a mentor to children.

• Tutor students. Whatever subject or subjects are your strong ones, use that ability to tutor students who need extra help and earn some great money in the process.

• Sell unused stuff. Clean out your living space and sell anything you aren’t using anymore. That old DVD player, the iPod you replaced last year, and those clothes hanging in the back of your closet can all bring in some money.

• Get creative. Take these examples to heart and tap into your own creativity to find unusual ways to earn money.

• Find a job related to your field of study. Not only can you gain important experience, but you can also save money or reduce your student loans if you find a job over the summer.

• Take a part time job that may carry over to the fall. Finding a great part time job during the summer can build some cash reserves and still allow you some time to have fun. If it’s something you really enjoy doing, carry it over to the fall and keep earning that extra cash.

For School and Beyond

Just because you aren’t in school doesn’t mean you can be taking care of school or career-related issues. From creating a resume to improving your writing skills, these suggestions will give you an advantage over those lazing around all summer.

• Study for admission tests. If you are heading off to college or grad school soon, use the summer to get ready for admission tests you may be facing.
• Take extra classes. If you need some extra classes or need help polishing up on a subject you didn’t quite grasp, take extra classes during the summer.
• Create a resume. It’s never too early to put together a great resume. Whether you will be in the job market soon or not, spend this time working on your resume so it is ready when you are.
• Apply for scholarships. This blog post from Pay for College Blog offers suggestions on applying for specific college scholarships, no matter if you are a freshman or have been in school a while.
• Find your focus. If you have been struggling with a direction to take in life, use this time to research, talk to others, and possibly do some volunteer work in the field of your choice to help determine what direction you want your future to take.
• Visit colleges or grad schools. If you are about to enter college or grad school, take this opportunity to visit schools and learn about the areas.
• Learn to type. If you use the hunt-and-peck method on your computer, learn to type. It can speed up the time it takes to complete school assignments and will also provide you with an additional skill for your resume.

hope you will enjoy your summer vocation.

Mahek Sohail 

7th confidence 

Ma'am Nazia