High School Summers: A time to build the resume or unwind?

High School Summers: A time to build the resume or unwind?

This time of year, I love asking my high school students, “What will you be doing this summer?” I’m interested in what they choose to do with their time when it isn’t all allocated to school and extracurricular activities. Summer is a chance to be free – to learn and do what the other 9 months of the year don’t make space for.

I also realize, the question can be fraught with expectation; summer has become a time – for some, the only time – to add some impressive bullet points to a resume or future college application.

It’s why when one of my students from Chicago answered, “I’ll be getting better at origami,” while proudly showing off one of his intricately folded miniature creatures, I was pleasantly caught off guard. It made me think that among all of the impressive-sounding activities my students will embark on this summer, perhaps this student stands to learn and grow the most.

One of Stanford’s short-answer questions on the application for admission is “How did you spend the last two summers?” There are blogs about how to answer these questions, including one from the popular College Essay Guy,which, perhaps ironically, offers the advice to “put in 1-2 things that show you also have a life. Because you do.”

It’s not necessarily a bad question; among the thousands of high-achieving students who apply to Stanford each year, it is good to know what students do when they have some choosing power.

But this unstructured time doesn’t need to be assigned to yet another structured program, even for those considering elite colleges. In fact, some colleges get to the root of this by asking, “What do you do just for the heck of it?” MIT asks students to respond to the question, “What do you do for fun?” It’s a jarring question for some students who are concerned with highlighting the impressive resume. According to recent polls, this question may actually be harder for teens today to answer.

Approximately 25 million high school students were just released for summer break. While most of those teens will spend most of their summer catching up on sleep, according to Pew, more teens are engaged in academic activities over the summer. Unlike their parents’ experiences, teens today are spending less time socializing and just hanging out over break. No more lazy summer days with plenty of unsupervised loitering and maybe a summer job at a fast-food joint; summer, it seems, has become an opportune time for advancement.

In his book, How to Become a High School Superstar, Cal Newport flips the script on achievement culture when he suggests that doing less might be more for those with college on their minds; that it’s the relaxed and interesting teen who stands out more among a pool of hyper competitive and stressed out ones. I’ve seen this myself: it’s the students who have a more relaxed attitude – not letting their stats and scores and resume define them – who seem to have a smoother college admissions experience. And this is good news to those parents who were feeling anxious about their teen not having an epic plan this summer.

I also recognize that the school year doesn’t allow some of the brightest and most eager students to do all they want to do; they’re hungry for more and they have a list of things they look forward to doing, starting, building, or learning over the summer. So in the spirit of encouraging discovery, creativity, and self-improvement over resume-building and means-to-an-end thinking, I’m sharing 5 interesting and fulfilling summer activities for teens to do this summer (lots of cash, lengthy applications, and advanced planning not required):

For Those Who Want To Give Back

   While signing up for a posted volunteer opportunity or applying for an advertised job can be plenty rewarding (look to volunteermatch.org for a list of volunteer opportunities in your area), there is something particularly exciting about creating your own job description by offering up your talents for free. Think about what you want to do or the skill you want to develop, and then see who could benefit most from this. This was my advice to college students when I worked as a volunteer coordinator at a university.

• Do you want to work with computers? Offer to update the website for your favorite non-profit.
• Do you like photography? Offer a free photo shoot for a graduating senior.
• Are you a natural organizer? Offer to run the fundraiser for your little brother’s little league.
• Do you have an opinion? Offer to write an op-ed for your local paper.
• Do you have a career or field you are interested in? Reach out to people in this field and inquire about shadowing opportunities to see if you are interested in the day-to-day workflow.
• I love to see the creative ways that high school students offer their gifts to the groups that need them most.

For Those Who Want To Do Research

   Research with a local faculty member can be a tremendous learning experience. Even menial data entry can be a great introduction to a student who thinks they may want to pursue research of some kind or work in academia (the experience may convince them otherwise, which is still worthwhile!).

There has been an increase in fee-based research programs, which I’m a little skeptical of. While it’s certainly easier to pay a few thousand dollars to get a research experience that’s turn-key, this approach robs students of one of the most fulfilling parts of summer research: the feeling that it has been earned.

While it can be intimidating, an old-fashioned cold call or an introduction from an acquaintance with consistent follow-up by the student, is how these should be arranged. Research faculty of interest at your local college or university and craft your request in a way that connects your interests and goals to theirs.

For Those Who Want to Focus on Academics

   An academic summer can make good sense if the GPA took a hit during the school year. Grade Point Average matters not just in college admission, but in scholarship eligibility (which is the piece I care about most). I’ll often recommend that students talk to their high school counselor about replacing a grade on their transcript by retaking the course over the summer. Some students can also earn dual credit over the summer by taking classes at their local college. These new grades can nudge that GPA up a bit.

On the other hand, some students want to take more advanced courses over the summer hungry for a challenge beyond what their school offers. While I don’t usually recommend taking core classes outside of the student’s high school except in cases where they have exhausted the high school curriculum, students can enroll in more challenging courses at the local college or online during the summer months. Always check with the high school counselor to see if these extra courses can count for dual credit, if you’d like to see these courses on the transcript. If they won’t be counted, that’s not a problem. Just remember to send in transcripts from summer work to the colleges to which the student eventually applies.

For Those Who Need to Make Money

   While less and less common, there are still some teens who need to work for money. This might be in addition to the free work I talked about above; it may be how they need to spend their entire summer in order to pay for gas or save for college. Either way, don’t discount summer jobs. Colleges are interested in hearing from students who had to say no to expensive summer camps to earn their own money, and I’ve read plenty of great college admission essays about a busy night working the drive-through or a difficult customer at the miniature golf course.

If you’re pairing paid work with unpaid volunteering or another activity, consider jobs that you can work around your schedule, such as babysitting, pet and house sitting, house cleaning and lawn care, or tutoring.

For Those Who Want Athletic Development

    The school year requires athletes to maximize time management and spend a lot of time with their nose on the grindstone. I talked to a member of our advising team, Lizzie Larkins, a former D1 coach, about how athletes can both recover over the summer and make the most of their more open schedules. Here are Lizzie’s 3 recommendations:

1. Send emails and follow-up with college coaches. Express to them why you want to be a part of the team and schedule a meeting with them where you can get your questions about the program answered! If you have time, visit the schools and meet the team as this is where you can learn the most about a program.
2. In these emails and in communication with coaches, get clear on your why. Why do you want to play your sport in college? Why do you want to be a part of this collegiate program? What will you bring in addition to your athletic skill set to a collegiate team? These are important questions for the recruiting process as it is important to find the school and program that fits what you are looking for in and beyond college!
3. Find time to play. Make time for the parts of your sport that bring you the most joy. Whether it is playing pick up with your friends or going for a run on your favorite trail, it will help promote an athlete’s sport longevity and well-being especially as this crucial piece can be easily neglected throughout the school year. Finding joy in hobbies or other passions outside of sport also falls into this category. Athletes put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform, so they need to find ways to release the pressure valve to promote their longevity as athletes and humans.

Lizzie adds that athletes can feel like they are in a “pressure cooker” and that “finding outlets to recharge” is crucial.

I’d say this goes for all high school students. The best summers are both relaxing and energizing, and for the next several weeks, students have the rare opportunity to reignite old passions, discover new ones, and rest enough to be able to do so.

Alex Ellison runs a college and career guidance practice, Throughline Guidance, which serves clients around the globe. She writes and lectures extensively on the subject of careers and college readiness and has been a featured speaker at SXSWedu and TEDx. She is the author of Go Your Own Way: 7 Student-Centered Paths to the Best College Experience and the creator of the Go Your Own Way Student Archetype Quiz used in schools and by individuals to jump-start their college search. Her forthcoming book, Your Hidden Genius: The Science-Backed Strategy to Uncovering and Utilizing Your Innate Talents hits shelves in January 2025. She lives in Santa Cruz, California.