Making your Summer Count

The summer holidays are mere weeks away from taking us away– away from homework and away from exams. But before you venture into your sunny (and well-deserved) break from school, do you know what you’re going to do? Two months is a long time, but it can go by in an instant without fruit if you don’t plan carefully– are you really going to spend your entire summer scrolling through your phone? 

If you feel lost, you’re in luck– this article will give you all the ideas for your summer vacation that will definitely beat doom-scrolling on TikTok. 

Learn a New Skill

The amazing thing about humans is that there is no limit to what we can learn– so why not use it to your advantage? The possibilities are endless; for example, you can learn a new sport. Pickleball is all the rage lately– why not buy a racket and learn to play with your friends? You can channel your inner artist and learn to crotchet or master embroidery. Or you can rekindle your Duolingo streak and learn that one language you’ve always wanted to learn. Summer holidays are a time to put academics behind us– but learning a new skill would also look great on your resume, especially if you use your time efficiently.

Take Care of Yourself

I won’t sugarcoat it– high school really is stressful. It’s so ingrained in our minds at this point that we don’t realize the toil we go through in school– 7+ hours every day for five days a week is no small feat. When you’re constantly chased by deadlines and mounds of homework, you often forget to take a second to practice self-care, so I suggest you use this summer break to give your mind and body the love they deserve. The obstacles of schoolwork are gone, so prioritize good quality sleep and rest to rejuvenate your body. Sleep in if you need to– there’s no bus to catch. Regular exercise is also a must. The summer break is a time of relaxation, but that’s no excuse to be a couch potato. Especially in times like these, you need to get enough exercise to keep your body healthy and moving, even if it takes form in short walks to the convenience store.

Explore

You don’t need to go abroad to explore– a few searches and you’ll find that there’s much to do here in Seoul that you haven’t seen yet. What about the Yeoyido Basement Bunker built in the 1970s for emergency evacuations? Nowadays it has been made into a modern art museum, with dimly lit paintings surrounded by the vast emptiness that the basement presents. Or you can visit the Chungwadae, ​​which formerly served as the presidential residence and the diplomatic reception halls of South Korea from 1948 to 2022. Now it is a public park open for all to visit, allowing everyone to take peeks into the lives of past presidents and what was hidden from everyone for so long.