If you’re in high school, now is a great time to start thinking about how you are going to spend your summer–even though it’s months away! Colleges want to see that you’ve spent your summers doing things that are meaningful to you. Summer break is also a time that allows you to learn more about yourself and what your interests and strengths are. If you consider yourself a creative individual, summer is the perfect time to dive into a long creative project such as a writing project, film, or theatrical production. Team projects can be great opportunities to demonstrate your leadership and collaboration skills. Over the course of your work, depending on your project, you can also hone your research, writing, and public speaking skills.
Write a novel or short story/poetry collection
There are fewer more effective ways to show that you’re a dedicated and strong writer than writing your own longer piece of work, and summer is the perfect time to do just that. Without a hectic school schedule, you’ll have plenty of time to outline what you want to write and get started. Whether it’s a novel, a poetry collection, or a series of short stories, take advantage of those long summer days to write and edit your own original work. It doesn’t have to end in the summer either. You can also take advantage of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a writing challenge that takes place in November of every year.
Contribute to–or start–a literary journal
If you’re a writer, but don’t want to work on a longer project, literary journals provide a great outlet for showcasing your work. While you need to submit quality work, there are many literary journals out there that receive and publish high schoolers’ writing. If you want to take it a step further—especially if you’re someone who’s more keen on building your editorial skills—you can start your own literary magazine and put out a call for submissions. Think about what theme or mission would make your journal unique. There are literary journals dedicated to numerous topics, from architecture to Taco Bell, so you can really get creative!
Work on a visual art project
Whether you’re a painter or a sculptor, summer provides the perfect opportunity for visual artists to work on their portfolio. You could spend this time working on a series of related pieces, or you could delve deeper into learning new techniques that will expand your repertoire. If you’re happy with a body of work you’ve created, you can even organize an art exhibition in your community. This could be solo or involve other local artists who can all contribute and help plan the event. Not only would this showcase your artistic talents, you’d also hone teamwork skills.
Make a film, theatrical production, or documentary
For those hoping to improve their skills in filmmaking, why not put on a directorial hat and make a movie about a subject you care about? It could be fictional—with a script that you dedicate part of your summer to writing—or it could be a documentary on a local or global issue. If you’re more theater-oriented, working on a play would help demonstrate your strengths. Look and see what opportunities are available at local theaters. Whether you work on a film or a theatrical production, recruiting members with a strong skillset can build leadership skills, as well as providing you with a team that can bring your vision to life.
Create a project inspired by other fields
If you’re in a field that’s more scientific or research based—but you’re still an artistic person and want to take a more nontraditional approach than your peers—a creative project in history, economics, and even STEM subjects is definitely possible. Once you’ve finished conducting a study or research, you can present the results through a creative route. If you’re interested in filmmaking, why not make a short documentary over the summer—an excellent way to combine both interests? Or, if you’re more of an artist, you can create a graphic novel that outlines the results of your study.
Starting your own creative project can effectively emphasize your passion for your major or prospective career. Given that you will probably work very hard on the project and that it might end up having a deep impact on you (and vice versa), you could find yourself writing your personal statement or supplemental essays on the experience as well. Working on a creative summer project shows clear ambition on your part, potentially giving admissions officers a strong impression of your skills and the ways you’d contribute to a college’s campus community.
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