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Planning Your Summer Holiday Before University

The only pressure you should feel during your pre-uni summer holiday is to make sure that you spend it in the best possible way!

The summer holiday before you go to university is an essential rite of passage. Once you become an adult, it is a rare opportunity to have any time longer than 2-3 weeks off with no responsibilities, deadlines, schedules or worries about what you’re going to do with your life for the next few years (that is, until you retire).

Planning the Ideal Summer

What your perfect pre-uni summer holiday will look like will depend very much on the following factors:

  • Favourites

Is there somewhere you’ve always wanted to go or something you’ve always wanted to do? Or maybe even just something you love doing at home? If there’s something your heart desires to do, see if you can make it happen (as you probably won’t have an opportunity quite like this again).

  • Family and friends

Is there someone or a group of people that you really want to spend time with before you go off to university? Or perhaps there’s someone or a group of people who really want to spend time with you (we’re thinking mainly parents here) before you fly the nest?

  • Finances

Sorry to have to be the voice of reason, but it would not be sensible to embark upon the wildest summer of your dreams if it’s going to mean that you spend half of your student loan before you’ve even received it! Be sensible with your money this summer and you’ll have a much less stress to deal with come September.

  • Future goals

Perhaps you have big ambitions for your career after uni, and you want to get a head-start? Even if this isn’t the case, it is advisable to consider doing something which could help you reach your future goals when planning your pre-uni summer.

Any of these factors might come into play when you’re planning your ideal summer, and you will probably need to do a balancing act between all of these. To help you with this, here is our suggestions list for things you should plan to do this summer:

  1. Go on a trip with friends

You’ve quite possibly had the same close group of friends for years, maybe even since primary school; yet, you might never have had the chance to go on a big trip with them somewhere. Even though travel abroad is tricky right now, this summer is the ideal time for a road trip (or rail trip, if none of you have passed your driving test yet). Doing some intense bonding with home-friends over the summer will help to keep you tight when you’re all scattered across the country at different universities.

  1. Gain some experience

Regardless of whether you have a dream job in mind or you’re not yet super-motivated about a particular career choice, gaining work experience through regular employment or an internship this summer could be extremely helpful. Not only can these kinds of experiences make you stand out for future employers, they can also help you to discover the types of roles and industries you might be interested in. Plus, it will bring in some money to fund the rest of your summer!

  1. Spend quality time with family

Yes, you might be excited about moving away from home and being independent when you start uni; but be kind to your parents this summer – you might just miss them when you’re no longer under the same roof.

  1. Get to know other freshers

Joining fresher’s chat groups on social media or your university student forum can be a great way to boost your confidence for the coming year. You might even discover people who already live close to you and make friends before you even start your course.

  1. Get ready

Ok, we know this is not the most exciting suggestion, but it is important! If you don’t leave time aside in your summer plans to pack up your things properly, you’ll probably end up arriving at your new digs with two cheese graters, seven summer jackets, odd socks and no laptop charger. Another important thing to do is to get your student house utility bills sorted – no one wants that stress during fresher’s week.

Enjoy it!

So, guys, whether this summer turns out to be the perfect opportunity to tick some things off your bucket-list or simply kick back and relax in your favourite reading spot in the garden is entirely up to you; but whatever you do end up planning, enjoy it!