The best activities to do during summer break

Bed and Books graphic (Alana Moscoso/ story writer)

By: Alana Moscoso-Mendoza, staff writer

As the California summer heat eases, many students wonder what they’ll do during the two-month-long break between school sessions. Maybe they’ll work a job. Perhaps they’ll attend a summer camp. Or they’ll sit in bed all day, scrolling through social media. While all of these activities are a valid use of time granted by summer break, there are better ways to utilize these precious few months when students are, at least, less burdened by schoolwork. A few activities take the trophy for best and most helpful summer activities.

There are a multitude of activities that can be done during the summer. The two main things that make summer break so alluring are the time and the season. Students have two entire months to do just about whatever they want, a prospect unseen throughout the school year, in which the longest break granted is two weeks. All of this freetime can make it overwhelming to decide what to do with it, but at the same time, that freedom of choice is what makes summer break so great. Moreover, the heat and sun make outside activities even more enjoyable– unless you prefer the cold. It’s the best time of the year to leave the house and thrive in the heat that summer brings.

One popular summer activity is summer camps. Multiple camps are open for attendance, such as those offered by the YMCA or the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts. At the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, there are many opportunities available for those of essentially all ages: this includes dance, visual art, and even mariachi programs. And at the YMCA, the camps available are adventure and sports camps, with an additional youth overnight camp named Camp Ravencliff. The main factor about summer camps is the community and companionship that they foster. Whether you go into them with friends you knew beforehand or by yourself, you’ll definitely leave with more than you started with. 

While these are both great activities to do during the summer, the absolute best activity would be simply relaxing. Summer break bridges the gap between school years, and after a likely hectic end to one year, you probably wouldn’t want to fill your entire break with more stress before yet another, and even more stressful, school year. Catching up on anything you put off during the school year could help you decompress, too. Revisiting your hobbies, watching a show you’ve been wanting to watch, or going to a restaurant you’ve been wanting to visit could be worthwhile activities to do over the summer, just to name a few.

Reconnecting with friends and family is also a good idea, especially if the previous school year made it difficult to maintain your social life. Whatever helps you rest and recuperate before another school year is up to you, but it is undoubtedly the best choice to make during the summer.

None of that is to say that traditional summer activities, like summer camps as discussed, aren’t a good use of your time. They are, and they can be incredibly valuable throughout your education. They provide numerous opportunities and can give you essential skills and experience regarding careers you might want to pursue or just general life skills.

Another perfect option for summer break is to find a job. Saving up money for future expenses, such as your first car or college tuition if you choose to attend, is incredibly helpful as you enter adulthood. Life is expensive, and it can hit incredibly hard when you don’t have much money saved up. The money you make now could even go to something like your first apartment’s initial fees, for example. No matter where your money goes, the skills a job gives you are invaluable, and saving up is always helpful.

Like jobs, work experience programs or internships offer the same, or similar, skills that employment opportunities would give you. These can be specific to a career you might want to pursue, such as shadowing a doctor or dentist, or it can be more general, highlighting a variety of skills that your future employers will look for. These programs are incredibly valuable for anyone, and are also a good use of your time over summer break. 

You decide what you do during summer break. No single activity is guaranteed to be the best for every person. It's essential to do what aligns best with you and your goals, whether sleeping the break away or cramming every possible program into your weekly schedule. It is all up to you, but let's be honest: Sleeping sounds much more enjoyable than a packed schedule.