The Summer Before College Shouldn't Be A Throwaway

After the rush of last minute life in high school, you like many of your classmates will wake up one morning and realize, high school’s done! But before hitting snooze on your alarm, rolling over and not making a productive use of the coming summer, there are a few things you should realize. The pace you set now will have a large effect on how you handle the Fall-2012 Semester. This summer can be extremely rewarding and a way to explore passions without the constraints of high school bearing down on you. But maybe you need a little push in that direction. That’s where I will help.

Set an alarm. We are not talking 6:30 every morning (unless you’re one of those morning people), but how does a reasonable 8:30 seem. I mean if you go to bed at 1am, you’d still get 7.5 hours. The longer you sleep in, the more you will waste the day away. I have seen it firsthand in a roommate and want to pass this valuable advice onto you. Keeping a morning routine makes the college transition easy and painless, so you’re more likely to succeed. With more daylight hours, you can do so much more out of the summer.

Don’t melt your brain. Movie marathons once a weekend during high school are alright. But when your internet surfing & jersey shore marathons take over, it will be Wednesday before you even realize, “where the %&!! did my week just go”? This applies to texting as well. The more time you waste doing this, the less time you can hang out with friends (the real social networking) or be doing something more productive (example below).

Find a passion. Summer time is the best time to go out and try the world for its full flavor. Look for an internship in an unusual place. Take a passion of yours and try making some money. Why stop learning when school stops? Try learning a trade like welding or seeing if your auto mechanics will train someone. If you learned a language in high school, keep with it this summer. Not only will you improve, but campuses are becoming more multicultural every year. You’re bound to meet a student that speaks it as their first or second language.

In summary, start setting yourself up on a schedule. Doing so will make college much easier and will give you the tools you need to excel. Avoid overusing the television, cell phone or internet surfing. These will distract you from enjoying the warm weather. Lastly, find what you like to do and find someone who will pay you. That is the golden merit of working.