Summer takes its time getting here every year, but once it arrives, it is worth the wait.
The last quarter of the school year is quite a slump; exams and final projects start flooding our schedules and graduation begins to creep around the corner for seniors. But once that business slows down and the last day of school finally arrives, there’s only one thing on our mind: Summer vacation! Each person has a different plan for how they spend their summer, and depending on your grade level or age you’ll have different priorities set for what you plan to do during your free time. Some people go on vacation, some work non-stop, and some just spend their free time relaxing or doing things with friends and family. Harrison students have a wide range of summer plans, according to a recent survey of the student body.
The survey had three sections: working, vacationing, and relaxing, and each one showed why kids are so antsy for May 22nd to get here. For example, one student in the vacationing section mentioned that “…This year we are going to Alaska, Norway, Iceland, England, and Canada.” So cool!
When asked whether they prefer warm or cold weather for their summer vacation, there was an overwhelming vote for the warm option. The student in Alaska, Norway, and Iceland is clearly in the minority, with most students wishing for beaches and not glaciers.
The working section showed an interesting trend: a lot of people will stay with their year-round job this summer compared to the few people returning to a strictly summer job. They may work more, but it will be at the same job. When asked if they enjoyed their summer jobs, their feelings fell into the middle–they neither liked nor disliked it. But at least 68% of responses recommended their jobs to others looking for employment this summer (Check out our article: Summer is for Working? – The Paw Print (harrisonpawprint.org)), meaning they at least like it enough to try to get their friends to work their too.
The relaxing section tried to get a feel of what people plan to do in their free time. Kings Island was a popular destination mentioned in the responses, but other than that sleeping and sports prep were the most common responses.
There’s more to our summer plans than just these topics; for example, if you’re a junior you may think of starting to plan out your senior parking spot. Juniors also need to make sure they have all their classes planned out properly in order to have enough credits to graduate. Seniors will have a different level of concerns considering there’s a focus on enrolling, enlisting, or employing themselves somewhere that’ll benefit them well. I know that I’ll personally be focusing on working in order to make enough money to pay off my first semester of college. But for anyone still in highschool another focus would be prepping for their summer/fall sports! Some sports host sports camps which are a great way to connect a team early on as well as polish their players skills. This summer you’ll see a lot of girls tennis, boys football, girls cheer, girls volleyball, cross-country, and boys and girls soccer. Next to that, there’s some other camps that provide good volunteer opportunities. I remember I helped out with an hour-long tennis camp for first grader’s my Junior year sometime in July. Harrison High School Drama Program also has a drama camp the last week in June, providing performing opportunities to aspiring actors in elementary and junior high. The robotics program also hosts a summer camp for 3rd-5th graders that lasts August 7th-10th.
As you can see there’s a bunch of ways you can plan out your summer, and hopefully you have a bunch of fun! To all my seniors: Good luck with your life after highschool, I hope everything goes well for you whether or not you decide to enlist, go to college, or focus on work! Have an amazing summer everyone!
