How To Make Full Use Of Your School
Holidays
So your
exams are over and the school holidays are here. What are you going to do?
It's a great time to sit back and relax after all the stress
caused by your exams. While some of your friends have great plans for this school holidays, you may have made no plans at
all. If so, we would like to recommend the following.
1. Relax And
Recuperate!
For those of you who have worked very hard for your exams and are
stressed out, it is high time for you to take time off your school studies.
Make use of your school holidays to calm your nerves and reduce
your stress level. You will feel better and more full of drive and energy when
school reopens.
So how to calm your nerves? Read our second suggestion below.
2. Take Up An
Adventure!
For those of you who love adventures, this is a good time to take
up an adventure. For example, you may join a school camp, an around-the-island
bicycle ride or a treasure hunt. You may even visit an outer island or a
foreign country.
Such adventures not only take your mind off your school work and
reduce your mental stress, they also pump more excitement into your life. You
will get to learn new skills such as setting up a camping tent, meet new
friends or learn more about your classmates, and acquire new knowledge such as
the lifestyle of an islander or a foreign citizen.
At the end of the adventure,
you may even wish for more adventures!
3. Pursue Your
Interests!
In the midst of studying, you may not have much time for your
other interests, such as reading, singing, boat rowing, flower
arrangement, or taking up a computer course.
Your school holidays will be a good time for you to pursue your
interests. It will make you feel that your life is meaningful and rewarding, as
well as pump more zest into your life.
For the time being, school work is out of your mind and your
stress level will naturally go down.
4. Volunteer
Your Time!
With a few weeks of school holidays, you will have plenty of time
on your hands. Thus, it is a good time for you to look around you and realise
that there are many people who are less fortunate than you. They include the
elderly who are staying in homes for the aged, the handicapped, mentally
retarded children, and orphans staying in orphanages.
You may wish to become a volunteer and offer your time to take
part in some social work. This could include visiting homes for the aged and
putting up some performances for them. It could also include collecting
unwanted newspapers from residential areas for sale to raise funds for the
needy.
By taking part in such volunteer work, you could contribute your
time and effort towards helping the needy. It could turn out to be a most
rewarding experience for you.
5. Catch Up With
Your Family And Friends!
Every one of us is involved
in our own personal affairs everyday. Amidst all this, we sometimes neglect the
important people around us, including our family members and friends.
For example, while studying for your exams, you might not have
spared enough time for your parents, brothers and sisters. You might be too
preoccupied with your own studies that you did not realise that your family
members might have needed you most at that time.
Your action may have even caused them hurt. Recall how your
parents have taken great care of you all this while, and how your brothers and
sisters have helped you in many ways too.
What you can do now is to try and catch up lost time with them.
Show your care, concern and appreciation towards them. It may mean as little as helping with the
housework while your parents are working. It may mean as easy as helping your
brothers and sisters with their school projects. This will not only make your
family more united, it will also make them realise that you also cherish them.
Remember, though, that you should not stop doing so once school
reopens!
6. Clear Up Your
Room!
Did you create a big mess of your rooms while preparing for your
school exams? Did you throw your books all over the place, dump your belongings
in all corners, and forget to clear your waste paper baskets? Then this is a
good time to start clearing your room if you are guilty of the above.
A tidy and clean room is conducive to living and studying. It
also shows how much you respect yourself and your family members. Your family
members will greatly appreciate it if your room is neat and clean when they
bring their friends home. So will your friends when they suddenly pay you a
surprise visit!
7. Take Up A
Vacation Job!
You can take up a vacation job during your school holidays. This
will allow you to gain valuable working experience, including gaining new job
skills, learning how to interact with people, and understanding how difficult
it is for your parents to work and support you.
You may even wish to try a job similar to what you wish to do when
you graduate. This will allow you to get a feel of how your future job may be
like, and you can decide whether it is suitable for you or not.
Of course, the extra cash you
will earn at the vacation job will also bring you satisfaction, because you
have worked for it!
8. Catch Up On
Your Studies!
Last but not least, if you have
not worked hard enough in your previous semester, or are still lagging behind
your classmates despite your hard work, you should make use of your school
holidays to catch up with your school work.
Nobody said studying is easy, but if you are willing to spend
more time on your studies, you will achieve good grades in time to come.
Remember the golden rule, "Practice makes perfect!"
