Summer is almost here, and it is time for the high school students to savour their last few years in school and decide on their education path. Post the gruelling examinations, it is time to slough off the academic engagements and think about the desired career path. This phase is precious, as every student is eager to spend it on something exciting and what they have aspired to get deeper into. It is also time to start preparing for the future and reassess the skills and strengths to be developed. Colleges care about the student’s curiosity, commitment to any activity, desire to pursue excellence in what they do, and a meaningful impact on the people and community.
Summer is a great time to put together the list of activities the students are passionate about, some of which will complement their future take-offs:
- To participate in a specialized High School program for public speaking classes, develop leadership skills etc. College campuses offer these to hone those skills required for the future.
- Participate in a college class taught by real college professors. These are competitive in terms of selection, need the support of Letters of Recommendation and earn real-time interface with future teachers.
- Get involved with research as a high school student, as this experience is awe-inspiring to college professors.
- Self-interests should be turned into a summer program as creative writing for a journal, forming a group to support the community’s environment and others.
- Summer is the right time to do online classes to acquire skills to support future college admissions or job placements. It is a good idea to participate in robotic workshops or watch lectures on the subject if one wishes to pursue Robotic Engineering.
- Taking up a summer job is a high pointer. Work history defines abilities like teamwork, initiative, collaboration and responsibility.
- Indulging in entrepreneurshipactivities such as caring for the senior citizens, volunteering as Covid healthcare support or being engaged in similar activities fetches many brownie points.
- Continuity and commitment to a community service activity for a more extended period as on weekends through high school will be a showstopper in the admission process.
- Engaging in internships in an organization, non-profit organization, or a research laboratory will go a long way to being noticed by the college admission office.
- Summer is an excellent time to prepare for standardized exams such as the SAT or ACT, make college visits (even virtual tours), or read subject-related books by the colleges.
- Meeting academic advisors’ career planners and networking with the education counsellors is a good idea.
- Incoming first-year students should visit the financial aid office or website to review the financial aid and their eligibility for the same in times to come.
- Updating the resume LinkedIn profile and cleaning up social media handles is a much-needed summer activity.
The summers in the high school years area cooling-off period to introspect on the future. It is the time to engage in prioritized activities, more so collaborative in outlook, which will make the future education portfolio much clearer and more realistic.
