The long summer of a university student

Summer is here and we’ve got three months of sun (let’s hope the sun stays around for more than a week) and relaxation. Going home for summer is something I am looking forwards to immensely, but I am starting to think that I maybe need to do something at least sort-of productive before returning to Lincoln in September.

I think everyone should make sure they have a few exciting things to look forwards to that don’t involve any major stresses. It doesn’t have to be an exciting holiday (if it is I hope you have an amazing time!) it could just be a picnic in the park with your best friend who you haven’t seen since Christmas. or a day out with your brother/sister/mum/dad/nan doing something you used to love together.

Whatever you do it is important that you include something that makes you happy which you don’t need to worry about (we do enough of that at uni). I’ve started to make a list of things I would like to do in the summer and then when I want to make some plans I already have loads of great ideas.

Studying like mad over the summer seems like a waste to me because you’ll end up burning yourself out before next year has even begun. However, it would be great if you could use the time to do something which would be beneficial to your course and post-graduation plans because, with so much spare time, you’ll be kicking yourself in the future if you don’t use it wisely.

Summer placements can be an amazing opportunity, but make sure they’re right for you before getting involved in one. Remember that a placement for the whole 3 months won’t necessarily be more beneficial than a 2-week placement if you do it wisely and it’s the right one for you. Personally, I am aiming to find some shadowing for a week or two, and as long as I learn from it I will have loads to talk about which in interviews, which will really help me when applying for things in the future.

Other suggestions I think would be good to do in summer are: learning to drive (if you haven’t already), part-time work to earn a bit of money or try out volunteering (even just once a week/every other week).

Even though I would suggest using your summer to your advantage don’t stress yourself out any more than absolutely necessary – remember this may be one of your last summers ever that you can basically do what you want.