By Jeremy Cappello Lee
Especially in the cold and gray winter months, we often envy the warm memories of our summer vacations.
The reality, however, is that as much as we enjoyed our family camping trips or surfing ventures in Hawaii, we probably spent just as much time watching Arrested Development reruns, frequenting the world of Mario Kart Wii, or lolling by the pool. Two-and-a-half months, as it turns out, is far too much time to squander.
Summer programs offer the opportunity to transform those countless, idle hours into productive and structured ones. And Tempe Prep students who have taken advantage of them have benefitted.
Sophomore Kyle Pickard, participating in the Oxbridge Summer Program, voyaged across the Atlantic to study “Architecture and Science of the Future” at Corpus Christi College of Oxford University.
“The atmosphere in Oxford is very different than that of a college town like downtown Tempe,” he says. “They truly are a community of learners.”
Despite the intellectually intense nature of the four-week program, Kyle notes that there was ample time for recreation, as well.
“We spent a lot of time playing soccer at the neighboring college’s meadow when we weren’t in classes or working on homework,” he adds. He also was able to visit Stonehenge and roam the streets of London, among other activities.
On observing the cultural significance of the trip, Kyle appreciated “learning and staying in buildings older than [the United States]. It was also hilarious converting to the wrong side of the road and to British pounds.”
Caleb Peckham, a senior, was one of five Phoenix-area interns who worked at a local non-profit as part of the national Bank of America Student Leaders program.
Working full-time for seven weeks at the Gilbert branch of the Boys and Girls Club, he found his summer “quite busy and well compensated.”
In addition to working in the various programs of the club, he “had the chance to visit almost all the other clubs in the organization and learn about the structure of non-profits.”
“The most amazing part of the program is that Bank of America Summer Interns receive an expense-paid week-long trip to Washington, DC,” he says. “We toured all the major sites and I met 221 really bright high school students,” many of whom are currently attending top universities around the country.
To snag summer programs such as these, it is important to start searching early; many deadlines are in the winter and early spring. For the Bank of America Student Leaders program, Caleb had to write six essays, prepare a resume, and ask for recommendations by late January.
Even if you don’t venture far, however, there are countless local (and affordable) opportunities. Learn Uzbek, one of several obscure languages taught at the ASU Critical Languages Institute. Enroll in a local community college to study a subject that fascinates you. Volunteer as a camp counselor or bag groceries at Fry’s.
By summer’s end, you will have been enriched by the new opportunities and friends made, and appreciate the gains in going beyond your comfort zone. And you might just learn something.