Summer Project: Learn Something
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 by Luke Turcotte 
Mike on a slack line, a skill he learned last summer.
Depending on the academic plan you a required to follow for your degree, you may or may not have a lot of freedom in the courses you are allowed to take. For example, in my life science program I only have one elective per year where I’m not restricted in the type of course I choose to take. This doesn’t allow for much exploration into different fields. Instead of wasting your time playing video games this summer, learn something new. The subject could be anything, a new programming language, a new sport, economics. In the end, the details are up to you, but come September you can be proud to say you learned something this summer.
If you don’t mind paying you can enroll in a course through a local community college or online course at your school. The advantage of taking a summer course through an academic institution is you will receive credit towards your degree and you can gauge you’re understanding of the subject by your exam mark. Personally, I find this option extremely uninviting. Summer time should be fun. Bailing on a beach party because you have a paper to write for the course you’re taking online sucks.
You read HackCollege; you’re resourceful, right? Why not pick up a textbook or a self-help book and teach yourself for free. If you get stuck on a concept have a look online, there’s all kinds of ways to get help for free (i.e., Khan Academy). One thing I’ve found is it helps to establish a loose schedule, for example one chapter per week. That way you’ll stay on track and have a good sense if you need to pick up the pace. If you don’t feel like learning that day, put the book down and party. If self-learning seems like a daunting task, realize that every time you skip class you are using this technique.
Just have fun. When you don’t like what you’re learning you procrastinate. It’s simple. Pick something you’d love to learn. Find how you can learn it and go out and do it.
Post your plans to learn this summer in the comments below.
Reader Comments (10)
Heck yeah. A few days ago I decided that I'll learn to program in Java. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Chemistry degree I'm shooting for but at least I'll be doing something. Heck, maybe I'll be able to charge computer science and IT freshmen for Java programming help when the semester starts up.
I think it's great to take summer electives.....lightens your coursework during the school year which is really nice :)
i don’t feel like learning that day, put the book down and party. If self-learning seems like a daunting task, realize that every time you skip class you are using this technique.
I agree, although I am not the hardcore party animal, I still want to spend my summer when i was still in college working on a side project or just jamming with my friends. Learning is always good but it has to be fun. Turning it into a task can only make you miss a lot of quality bonding with your friends or relatives and burning out yourself during summer vacay.
Hey, this summer I'm taking classes instead of working at my usual digs. I found the perfect classes for me (that count for credit!) at OnlineEducation.com
I've come up with a summer bucket list to complete...includes going to places i've never been to, going back to some childhood spots, and attempting to hit up every bar around campus and the downtown area...should keep me pretty busy.
all i will be doing is just partying, c'ause this year was just so much more mentally hard that previous
i love self-learning :) taught myself spanish one summer from a book/cd. got good enough to travel in south america. this summer my project is to program a basic iphone app. i'm not a very good programmer (some java, no C) but there are so many resources online that if you take things step by step you can do it. autodidactics, unite!
teaching myself guitar, want to play at the uni acoustic night next term...I've got a reasonable amount of musical knowledge so it's not proving too difficult yet.....:]
Vibram Five Fingers