Creative personal projects: making the most of time away from school

I am often lost when deciding how I should be spending my time during my summer academic break. I work part-time, or even full-time, but this quickly starts to feel monotonous and unfulfilling. Last summer, I began approaching time off of school differently in an effort to work on myself. Getting started on creative personal projects during this time off from school has left me with a sense of fulfillment. There are a limitless number of possibilities for what this project might be. I'll list a few things in this post that I think just about any student can have fun doing. Start a collection With my increased interest in music during the school year, I found myself interested in hi-fi listening experiences and, ultimately, listening to music through vinyl. Recently, my dad found me a turntable that a friend of his didn't need anymore, so now I'm set to start collecting records.

Building a collection can be expensive if you buy things brand new from retail stores, so I find it's best to look around in smaller shops and to check out garage sales and any other clearance events I can find. Things like Kijiji are really great for building a collection economically as well. Looking at a collection that I have put together is like looking at a work of art. It also feels like a representation of myself and the what I have gone through to build the collection.

Learn a Craft The way I keep my learning skills sharp during what can be very long breaks from school is to learn a craft or skill of some sort. Besides simply keeping me busy, learning a skill in an area I am unfamiliar or have always wanted to experiment with is great for keeping myself focused during the summer so that I don't end up wasting time. A skill that I'm working on this summer is creative writing and the steps involved in creating a good narrative. It's a great way for me to let my mind wander during my free time and also helps with selecting reading material for my breaks at work.

I expect that improving this skill will leave me feeling accomplished and refreshed heading into the new academic year in September. Where to start? Just start! If I think something looks pretty, I start to collect things like it. If I want to learn a skill, I look up a YouTube tutorial. If I want to make a photo album, I take out my phone and start taking pictures of anything and everything. As long as you simply start, you will be left with more than you had before you started.