Vacations, regardless of the season, give us an opportunity to re-energize and refresh our minds, and also get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. If you are still wondering what to do this summer, here are a few tips to help make your vacation both fun and productive.
Let’s go for a Productive Vacation!
It’s that time of the year where all the students and teachers will be looking forward in excitement to summer vacation. Academic life can be quite stressful sometimes for the students as well as for the teachers. A break like summer vacation can help us refresh, regroup and do leisurely stuff which we really enjoy such as going for a trip, watching favorite shows or movies, playing computer or mobile games, sleeping the whole day or just staying indoors to escape the summer heat. But the question is, are we really making use of our vacation or just wasting it? Can there be a more productive way to spend our vacation?
If you think that you are wasting your vacation and confused about how to spend it in a productive manner here are some ideas to help you decide. Serving the society: All of us want to serve the society one way or the other. So, this vacation why not give it a try? Gather some friends and take up an initiative to clean your nearby parks or public garden or marketplace etc.Volunteer at a retirement or old age home and shower them with love and affection. Another one is to volunteer for a church or temple or a mosque. Try visiting a blind home and read to them. By doing these activities you will not only serve the society but you will also get a sense of self-satisfaction and blessing from others.
Protecting earth: Spend your vacation trying to save planet earth by planting trees in your locality. Or take a bicycle trip with friends to your city and spread awareness about the benefits of bicycles instead of other automobiles. You can start a compost in your locality by collecting fruits and vegetable waste from the neighbourhood to promote organic farming. From the above activities, you can become a face of change and play your part in protecting the planet earth.
Developing skills:Use your vacation to brush up on skills by learning a new language you always wanted to. Learn to play a new instrument, a new dance form, a new technology, driving, swimming etc. Take up a class on self-grooming and develop communication skills etc. There’s also cooking classes or self taught cooking recipes and videos to experiment with in your kitchen. In this way, you not only learn a new thing but you can also make your resume strong.
Achieve personal goals:Throughout the year you are so caught up with work and classes that you cannot concentrate on your personal life. Why not spend your vacation achieving certain personal goals. . If you love travelling, take a trip somewhere you always wanted to go. For avid readers, think about forming a book club. If you like writing, start up a blog and share them online. You can also ease some of your stress with the help of yoga, meditation or a day at the spa. In addition, you can always use your vacation time to reconnect with family members, relatives or distant friends.
Find yourself: During vacation find time to figure out what your passion is. Think about your strengths and your weaknesses. You can even spend the summer finding your long-term goals and create a road-map on how to achieve them. For students who are still confused about what you want to do with your life, do some research on the various prospects that are available for you. For example, if you want to pursue your further studies then what are the best institutes for that particular course you want to take or what are the various alternatives if you want to discontinue and try something else.
Earn pocket money:If you are a college student, you can get an internship for a month in some companies where you can learn practical work as well as earn some money. And since no one can know your city better than you, this summer, you can also become a tour guide in your own city. Help tourists and visitors explore your city in its depth and earn some bucks at the same time. Or you can take a summer job at a mall, restaurant, showroom etc. and get some work experience to add on to your resume.
There is a quote by John Battelle, “As you grow older, you learn a few things. One of them is to actually take the time you’ve allotted for vacation”, which means we all have our daily schedules planned out for us, but vacation is a time we should take out of our monotonous life so as to make our daily lives more exciting. This summer spend your vacation in such a way that after your return to normal life you can tell yourself that ‘it was well worth it’.
Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editors are Dr Hewasa Lorin, Tatongkala Pongen, Seyiesilie Vupru, Vikono Krose and Kvulo Lorin. Portrait photographer: Rhilo Mero. For feedback or comments please email:dot@tetsocollege.org.