Editorial: Cramming the calendar

The Upper School’s fascination with summer activities.

A+potential+Upper+School+students+summer+calendar+often+features+multiple-week-long+internships%2C+classes%2C+and+trips.+Cramming+the+calendar+can+lead+to+valuable+experiences+but+could+also+squander+time+that+could+be+used+to+rest+and+explore.

Elisabeth Siegel

A potential Upper School student’s summer calendar often features multiple-week-long internships, classes, and trips. Cramming the calendar can lead to valuable experiences but could also squander time that could be used to rest and explore.

It is the most popular question at the start of the school year: “What did you do this summer?”

Summer is the opportune time for students to participate in activities that interest them. Ask any Harker student what the ideal extended summer entails and you’ll hear about long days at the beach, afternoons watching TV or going out with friends or family. But that’s not what happens anymore.

Students now use the summer to participate in classes, join internships, work at jobs and volunteer. Though some of us truly enjoy the real-world experience offered by summer programs, others participate because they believe it’s necessary.

Maybe they are right, since 60% of the businesses surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management believe that students need to start focusing on their careers as early as high school. And 90% agreed that a high school internship increases a student’s odds of entering a better college.

Increasingly, high school students feel pressure around balancing academic goals with personal interests. Here in Silicon Valley, home of countless tech startups and industry leaders, the professional culture demands that youths keep improving academically. Whether due to external stressors, such as parents, peers and cultural expectations, or internal fears driven by the college application process, students would agree that their summer activities revolve around checking off all the boxes on their college résumé.

If we glorify colleges over finding ourselves and pursuing our passions, how do we mature? Each summer provides us a golden opportunity to experiment and discover more about ourselves. Whether that means handling bacteria samples at a Stanford internship or relaxing at home, the vacation is a time to contemplate the future and prepare for the upcoming school year.

 

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on August 31, 2015.