By Ritika Amit Kumar
The summer break is the ideal time to develop your abilities and skills. Whether you want to learn a new talent or develop an old one, now is the time to do so. You can look at careers in coding, graphic design, photography, music production, and other fields. If you require help, think about signing up for summer camps or online classes to hone your skills.
Don’t restrict your learning to new technical abilities. Social and communication abilities are examples of soft talents that are equally vital. Practical ways to hone these abilities include participating in community service projects, signing up for communication-focused summer programs, or even going on trips with friends to meet adults. These skills can help you communicate with coworkers, clients, and customers more effectively, which will be crucial in your job.
Develop your soft skills by making new connections and networking
In addition to improving your technical skills, summer break also gives you a chance to brush up on your interpersonal and communication skills. By giving your time to neighbourhood organisations or signing up for summer programs that emphasise improving communication skills, you can widen your social circle. Your ability to connect with people more effectively and comprehend their needs will be useful in your future profession. This can be learned by going on short vacations with new acquaintances and connecting with grownups you don’t know.
Develop current interests and hobbies
It doesn’t have to be all work and no play throughout the summer. You can utilise this time to indulge in your preferred interests and pastimes and discover new ones. Enrolling in music or sports camps offers the opportunity to hone your abilities, pick up new tricks, meet new friends who have similar interests, and broaden your skill set.
Think about your own development and growth.
The summer break is the ideal opportunity to consider and value one’s own development. Consider pausing to assess the abilities and information you have already attained and identifying the areas of personal development that would be most advantageous for you. Reflection may be a useful tool for coming up with new ways to challenge yourself, figuring out your strengths and limitations, setting realistic objectives, and making a plan for moving forward. The summer is a fantastic opportunity to think back on what you’ve learned and consider how you may put those talents to use or apply what you’ve learned to something new. You can assess your accomplishments to date and determine what areas of personal development would be most advantageous for you by taking a break.
You can also use this time to review your knowledge of maths and physics or to pick up a new language. There are online courses that can assist you in mastering these subjects if you’re interested in learning to cook or exploring a different field. There are countless options. Don’t restrict your learning to new technical abilities. Social and communication abilities are examples of soft talents that are equally vital. Practical ways to hone these abilities include participating in community service projects, signing up for communication-focused summer programs, or even going on trips with friends to meet adults. These skills will be extremely useful in your profession and will improve how you communicate with coworkers, clients, and customers.
Utilising online activities or classes that could help you improve any current skills and learn something completely new is one way to achieve that. Here are a few illustrations:
Coding: Learn the fundamentals of coding and use those abilities. You can create a website, a video game, or even an animation using your skills!
Become a Published Author: you can invest time and take a mentored course that enables you to also get published.
Design: You can create websites using Squarespace or WordPress, learn how to use Adobe Photoshop, or even try hand lettering.
Young Scientist programs: take these up, if you are especially keen on science. They are curiosity enhancers and give you a good insight on how things work.
Advance or Commercial Art: this is a good option to develop your aesthetic skills, and will help you apply to colleges like NIFT and NID at a later stage. If not, it is still a good life skill to have.
Photography: Learn the fundamentals of photography and comprehend the technical components of taking pictures.
Content creation: If you prefer to write stories, consider interning at a newspaper for kids, or working with an NGO to promote social causes. This will not just enhance your skills, it will help in your university applications too, especially if you plan on applying to Ashoka University, or ISB, or a foreign university at a later stage.
Make a Difference by Serving Others and Volunteering
Volunteering and community service offer excellent opportunities to change the world and develop new skills. Take advantage of your summer break by volunteering with neighbourhood organisations like food pantries, animal shelters, or community gardens. Such an endeavour fosters social responsibility, cultural understanding, and leadership development. Additionally, volunteering can be a fantastic way to find out about job opportunities in the non-profit, healthcare, and media industries.
The time off over the summer is the ideal time to improve your abilities, pick up some new knowledge, and boost your self-assurance. Make the most of this opportunity to grow personally, and technically, interact with new people, and reflect on your personal development. Use this summer break to develop yourself into a better version of yourself because the correct skillset can help you stand out from the competition in the future.
The author is co-founder and CEO of STEM Metaverse. Views are personal.
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