Congrats, grad! You finally made it through four years of high school. You’re now heading to college, a gap year, or a career. But, for most of you, the question of what to do the summer after high school graduation looms over your heads. You have a whole summer open for you, and you want to make the most of it. So how do you do that?
We got you covered. We’ve collected 15 fantastic ideas of how you can spend that summer after high school graduation to make it as productive as possible. From making money to making memories, we’re here to make sure that you go into college having the time of your life.
#1: Work a Summer Job
This might be the most obvious thing to do over summer break. You’re at home, you have flexibility, and most importantly, you want to make that money to spend in college! Especially if you’re paying for your own education, a summer job is crucial to keeping up your savings. You can also start targeting jobs that will help you to build a resume or give you certain soft skills. From retail to food service to working with kids, there are all sorts of skills that you can twist into being useful for an internship or job in the future.
#2: Find an Internship
It’s never too soon to start looking for an internship, especially a summer internship! While many companies do prefer or limit their selections to college students, a ton do allow high schoolers or college freshmen to apply. For this, you need to check on LinkedIn, Indeed, or the company’s individual website. Usually, if you scroll to the bottom of the website’s homepage, they’ll have a “careers” section. This is where you can often find their internship opportunities.
If you’re debating between a job or an internship, I would suggest poring through your internship opportunities with more vigor. If you can find a paid internship that’s in a field that you’re considering, this can help you start college on a great foot! You’ll have a nice boost to your resume, insight to add to your major-related classes, and a better idea of what you would or would not want to do in the future. Plus, you might just have a bit more money to help you through your first year.
#3: Save Money to Travel Abroad
This one requires a bit more forethought and money, but it can be the perfect way to cap off your senior year and celebrate your hard work! Many of us want to travel, but we’ve never gotten the chance to do so. Now that you’re legally an adult, you’ve earned some money, and you have something to celebrate, it could be the perfect chance! This could be a great time to spend quality time with your family or close friends and make memories that you’ll never forget. Plus, if you took a foreign language in high school, it can be a great chance to practice.
However, traveling abroad isn’t feasible (or affordable) for everyone who wants to do it. There are other options, though! Some of these include volunteering abroad, going on a mission trip, teaching English abroad, and waiting to do a study abroad program in college. Websites like this one show you all of the possibilities that await if you don’t want to go the typical tourist route.
#4: Reconnect with Old Friends and Family Members
After you graduate, there’s a big sense of in-betweenness (a word I might have just made up). You’re technically an adult, and you technically have a *plan*, but there’s also this feeling of being cut loose. For some people, it’s relieving. For others, it’s terrifying. Many of us feel somewhere in between, and we want to get back to secure ground as soon as possible.
I won’t lie. A lot of college feels like there are growing pains. You’re an adult, but you still feel like a kid. Your parents still treat you like a kid, but you’re an adult. Everything needs to be figured out and everything is so new, and you almost don’t know where to start. The summer after high school graduation is only the beginning of that.
That’s why it’s nice to have some sense of consistency. Tap into that nostalgia a little. Everyone else your age is in that weird transition period, too. Reaching out to old friends can be nice, as it can allow you to play into it a bit. Plus, they’re also likely in that summer after high school graduation, beyond it, or about to hit it. They acknowledge that dynamics and situations change, and that gives you so much less judgment when trying to either reignite friendships or see what people are up to these days.
With family, it can be very much the same. Everyone will see that you’re about to become very busy and head off to college, so they’ll appreciate you reaching out even more. You can also find out more about where you come from, what your family history is, and why that relationship faltered. Overall, both of these options are very low-stress, low-stakes opportunities to reconnect with people during a summer of change.
#5: Be a Tourist in Your Own City
Especially if you’re leaving your hometown for college, this is a great way to spend the summer after high school graduation. With your high school friends, make a list of all the places you want to go in and around your hometown. These can be typical tourist traps OR they can simply be nostalgic places for you and your group. It’s a nice way to both say goodbye to your K-12 years and hello to your post-secondary years!
The best way to start this is to make a list, either with someone else or alone. Think about what restaurants, sights, nature outings, museums, and attractions you would go to if you didn’t live there. Go from as random as you can think to as general as possible. Then, once you’ve made your list, explore as if you’d never been there. Go into your city with open eyes. You can even wear touristy clothes just for fun! That sense of novelty is something that you and your friends will remember (and laugh about) for years to come, even after you’ve graduated college.
#6: Take a Summer Class
If there’s extra time and you feel that itch to get ahead, taking a summer class at a community college can be a great option. In many cases, your university will work with you to transfer those credits and make sure that they are equivalent to courses at the school. This will get you out of having to take lower division classes that would otherwise take up a lot more time and money! Just think about it–you could take a class in six weeks that might usually take you 16-18. It also will cost much less most of the time. Even if it’s merely a class that sounds interesting, it could be a great baby step for getting used to college classes. Trust me when I say that taking summer classes at a community college was one of the smartest things I did in college!
#7: Indulge in That Creative Project You Haven’t Had Time For
There’s this problem with creativity where we always push it off. It’s always, maybe later, or, I need to finish my homework first. And yes, you probably do need to do other things first. If you don’t get paid for it and get a grade for it, it should come after those other activities. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make time to do something that you love. It’s part of what makes you you. For that alone, it should be a priority.
And that’s where the summer after high school graduation comes in. For the first time in a while, you don’t have to worry about what college you’ll go to, what kind of applications you need to fill out, or how you’re going to get everything set up to get you into a great college. You can focus on what makes you you. Chase those creative endeavors. Graduation was the last day that you had to put up with anyone from high school and their judgment. This summer, you can start being you and chase what makes you happy. So why wait a minute longer?
#8: Look for Scholarships and Other Opportunities
I managed to make it out of college with no debt. The amount that I actually had to pay for my education was far less than many students pay for a single year of college. Why was this? Scholarships and other financial aid.
Usually, colleges or universities have a portal to look for these opportunities through their website. Additionally, it helps to simply google keywords that you need. For instance, if I wanted to see if there were any scholarships available in San Diego or for women, I would simply look that up, and it would populate with options. While my top suggestion would be to look through your university (less competition, more money), every dollar counts in the long run, and you won’t know what chance you stand until you apply.
#9: Fulfill Everything on a Bucket List!
In a way, the summer after high school graduation is a farewell of sorts. You’re saying goodbye to one chapter and hello to another. With that comes some nervous energy. What do you do? How do you make it a summer to remember? How do you prepare for everything that’s coming up?
The answer, of course, is by having fun and achieving your goals. Even if these are small, ridiculous goals, it fills you with a sense of happiness when you fulfill them. For that reason alone, it’s worth making a bucket list. It’s even more fun when you do this with a good friend or family member. Together, you can conquer the world and make irreplaceable memories before you head off to college.
So why not finally do those dumb, random things you’ve always wanted to do? Jump on it now!
#10: Find a Volunteer Position
With LinkedIn, VolunteerMatch, and social media, it’s easy to find volunteer positions. These can be a great way to give back to the community, bring meaning to your life, and build up your resume. One volunteer opportunity that I’m taking part in this summer is teaching Ukrainian students English through ENGin. With this, I can work one-on-one teaching English to Ukrainians, which will not only allow me to help people in need and contribute to society as a whole, but also to boost my ELL teaching skills and add to my resume. Of course, my primary motivation is to help others, but there’s always that additional aspect.
So if you want to add meaning to your life, this can be a great way to help both yourself and others to get ahead. Consider donating your time and energy to both local and online nonprofits in need of volunteers this summer.
#11: Start Your Own Business
With social media, and the ease of online marketing, why not start your own business? Especially if you have a creative passion that you haven’t had time for recently, this can be a great way to profit and enjoy yourself. I’ve had former students who have done this simply through Instagram. They start with a passion (baking, designing clothing, creating art) and they create a small online storefront. This is easier than ever with Instagram (i.e., making a microbakery) and Etsy.
While it certainly isn’t easy to do this, it definitely has gotten easier. You no longer have to pay such a pretty penny for a brick and mortar store. You can set up that virtual store front and work from there. There are still costs, naturally (domain, web hosting, supplies), but it will help significantly to simply use your following and your tech skills to expand your outreach. Plus, this can be another thing that you have to talk about in college and in your future career.
#12: Make a Beginner Resume (Or Update One)
If you didn’t work a job during high school, chances are good that you don’t have a resume. If you did work a job, maybe you haven’t updated it in a while. Once you get to college, you’ll need a resume for pretty much everything you apply for, including volunteering, jobs, internships, summer programs, and many scholarships. Why waste time then when you have free time now?
The internet is full of free resume templates, and it’s full of resume advice, too. One of my favorite things to do in college was to look through Pinterest pins for sample resumes and to look at articles like this one to craft my best possible resume. An advisor once told me that I should update my resume twice a year, or when the time changes to make it easier. I took her advice, and I recently looked back at the resume that I had when I entered high school. It was horrible! There was hardly any experience on there, and you could tell that it was my first resume. I’m only relieved that I fixed it during my first year of college.
So don’t make the same mistake that I did. Perfect that resume before you even start college so that it’s less hassle in the future. Your future self will thank you.
#13: Shop for Your Dorm
This is something that I’ve found is better to do sooner rather than later. If you wait too long, you might not have the options that you do at the beginning of the summer. Stores usually start to roll out their dorm merchandise in early July, so you can start stocking up on the things that you will need toward the beginning of your summer! This is good for a few reasons:
- Not spending a paycheck all at one time
- Not impulse buying
- Allowing yourself time to change your mind/return things
- Not having to carry a TON of stuff back to your car
- Preventing that stressed out pre-college scramble
- Getting out some of the pre-college jitters
- Getting those deals!
So, for all of these reasons, take advantage of the opportunities throughout the summer after high school graduation. Trust me when I say that it sucks to wait until the last minute. It’s not fun to pick through everyone’s leftovers. Claim your territory and start planning the best dorm possible.
#14: Meet Up with Your Future Roommate
Why wait until move-in day to meet them? If they’re within driving distance, you could make a fun road trip out of it. This could be a great way to see your state or the nearby states and get a taste of independence. It might also be nice to see what your roommate is like in their home environment. While your dorm does quickly become “home,” it’s nice to get a feel for who someone is and how they live outside of a cramped little shoe box. You can also start planning dorm decor, college plans, and how you’ll make the most out of freshman year.
Even if you can’t physically meet up with your future roommate, it’s great to communicate with them somehow. Your university usually gives you their contact information, and you can also look them up on social media. By texting or FaceTiming/Zooming, you still get a pretty good feel for who they are, and both of you will go into moving day with a bit more ease and less awkwardness.
#15: Interview People from Your Future College
Like I talk about in this article about figuring out what you want to do, informational interviews can be extremely helpful when gathering information about a future endeavor. Learning about life on your future college campus is no exception. Especially when it comes to shopping for dorm supplies, these people can be the most help. They know the layout of the rooms, what works and doesn’t work for your campus, and what is and isn’t allowed. They also probably know where to buy the cheapest things, especially if you’re going to buy all of your dorm stuff there. Beyond that, they might be able to hook you up with suggestions about specific professors, classes, clubs, and fun freshman activities. Whatever your questions are, there’s someone who’s able to answer them. Finding them through mutual friends and social media are great options to get some peace of mind before the year starts.
A Final Word
No matter how you spend your summer after high school graduation, you should be proud of yourself. You made it through 12-13 years of schooling and you’re at the point where you’re going to choose your own future. That in and of itself is no small accomplishment. With that being said, it’s my great hope that you use that pride and energy to enjoy the summer and make the most of it. After all, every step that you take in the present helps to pave the way for the future!
As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns in the comments below, and congrats on your graduation!!!
