Students finishing 11th grade and preparing for college applications have some very specific things they should do this summer. But what about everyone else? Many of the usual summer rituals for college-bound high school students are unavailable right now, and probably for the entire summer. No campus visits. No local museums or libraries. No summer trips. Probably no summer job. And, of course, no clear picture about what this fall will look like. There’s always a wide variety of circumstances when it comes to high school students in the summer. Some are getting very bored and restless, others are in a catastrophe, and most are somewhere in between. That’s true every summer, of course, but so many students’ circumstances have shifted drastically in the past few months, and almost no one is left unaffected.

So, then, what would I advise you to do this summer? Anything. You can do just about anything, I mean it. Especially this year. I promise no one in a college admissions office will look at your application in a few years and ask “what about the summer of 2020? Why does it seem you didn’t get out much?” In terms of preparing for the next few years of high school, preparing for college, and preparing for productive adulthood, there's no magical activity that you really must do to get ready. Do what you must and what you can this summer. It’s less likely you’ll do what you want. That stinks, but it’s true for everyone, not just you.

At this point, what you do isn't nearly as important as how you do it. Whether you're doing amazing, once-in-a-lifetime things or simple, mundane things, you should make the most of it.

First, take time for daily personal reflection. The only way to avoid that too-familiar “where did the day go?” feeling (or where did the week go, or month, or year, or decade) is to decide ahead of time that you’re going to stop and reflect. If you’re short on time and personal space, this may just be a few minutes before going to sleep. If you’ve got more time and resources, it can be a longer meditation. It can involve writing, discussing with loved ones, and research. Reflection is adaptive, and necessary, and we can to a large degree decide how and when it will happen. Here are some questions to ask yourself daily:

What went well today?

What did not go well today?

How can I best explain this day to someone else?

What consequences do I expect from what went well or poorly today?

Thinking about what went well and poorly, what aspects were in my control and which were out of my control?

What do I need to learn from today?

What can I do better tomorrow and in the near future?

Where can I find help and how should I ask for help?

Asking yourself these questions daily, and answering them honestly, can help you become better at being you. The questions don’t try to dictate who you are or who you should be, just allow you to improve at being you. What’s not to love about that? When you return to school and prepare for college, being an improved you will help you clarify and achieve your goals.

Write about your experiences. Writing about what you do on a regular basis serves several goals. For one, any college-bound person has got to be very comfortable with a lot of writing, so practicing on your own with your own assignments helps build up your discipline in a way that's more palatable to you. It will also help you maintain and deepen your self-reflection that's so vital. This doesn’t need to be some big, creative essay every day. Just some short journaling or note-taking. You can build it into your daily self-reflection.

Dress a little better than you have to. Seriously. I’m not talking about fashion, superficiality, or branding. I’m not talking about buying anything new or following any trends. I just mean that you’ll go very far, whatever your circumstances or situation, by dressing a little bit better than required. Whether you like it or not, how you dress conveys a lot to the people around you. It lets them know how serious you are about what you’re doing, and it influences how they think about you and act towards you.

Take one example: the white lab coat. In one study, people were shown photos of doctors dressed differently. They were asked to rate how knowledgeable and trustworthy the doctors seemed. The participants knew that all the people in the photos were doctors, and still rated them more highly when the doctors wore the traditional white lab coat. That sign of “I’m a doctor” makes a difference to people. But it’s not just doctors. In other studies, participants perform better on math problems when given a white lab coat to wear. Clothes have an effect on those around us, and on ourselves.

Should you wear a lab coat everywhere? No, of course not. But whatever is appropriate for you to wear, take it up just one single notch. If you’re at home and can wear pajamas all day, get out of your pajamas and put on some jeans and a t-shirt. If you’re in a setting where jeans and t-shirts are the norm, wear your best t-shirts and maybe add an accessory. If you have a job with a uniform, make sure your uniform is the cleanest and neatest it can be. Always project that you’ve shown up for whatever it is you’re doing and that you take it seriously. Others will notice, and your own mind will notice.

You probably already understand this instinctively. Imagine you’re going to a house party on a Friday night. Chances are that you’re going to dress up a bit. You could probably just wear whatever you wore all day Friday, but you want to show off a little more than that. You don’t want to get negative attention for not bothering to dress for the occasion. But you also know not to over-dress. Show up to a casual party in a formal gown or suit and you’ll call the wrong kind of attention to yourself. For a party, you dress a little bit better than you have to. What I’m saying is to do that every day. It will make a difference; you’ll be impressed with the results.

Goal of 20. Another way you can make the most of your summer is to give yourself a goal of 20. Make 20 visits to local parks. Have 20 intentional interactions with older members of your family asking them about their experiences. Read 20 books. Watch 20 of the best movies of all time. Find 20 items to donate to charity. Run 20 miles, spread out over as many days as you need. The number 20 is arbitrary, but an arbitrary number helps make a vague idea an achievable goal. Every time you knock out one of your 20, remind yourself to be deliberate and reflective.

Make a product. Toward the end of the summer, make some sort of product. Select some journal entries to make into full-on essays. Select and edit some photos to make a physical photo display. Make an interactive map of the places you visited. Make a book of advice for someone starting the job that you worked. Again, you can do almost anything. The idea is to curate and edit your experience into something that you can share. That's kind of a definition of education, isn't it?

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are two easy things you can do:

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2. Read these related posts: What should rising seniors do this summer?, Two things you need for success in college and beyond.

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Photo by Angela Elisabeth