Summer is a time for fun, making a little extra cash for the coming semester, and relaxation above all, but it’s not always a good idea to turn your brain off from the stresses that we adhere to during the school year. Keeping an active brain during the summer, even while there is no homework to stimulate your mental health, may be essential for the transition looming in the fall. Rather than drinking yourself into a coma every night this summer, there are many activities that can keep you equally as occupied but help the knowledge deprivation that comes naturally with the summer months.
Reading is a great way to stimulate brain power during your down days this summer and can greatly improve you mental health with little effort. It can be quite fun to read once you get into a good book or series, and it’s amazing what having to remember different characters, backstories, scenarios, and having to actively create worlds in your head will do for you brain. Forcing yourself to read will inherently improve your memory, which will no doubt be beneficial to you throughout the coming semesters.
Another way to keep your brain active is simply to have a job this summer. The thought may be daunting, and besides forcing you to take another step toward adulthood (which is a step you’ve hopefully already made), having a job and partaking in routine activities throughout your days this summer is superb for you mental health. A job will always provide new tasks and challenges for you to overcome mentally and physically, which correlates directly to how we, as students, function on a daily basis throughout the school year. And not to mention the fact that a little extra pocket change never hurt anybody.
Along with reading and working, there a multitude of activities that will prohibit the deterioration of one’s brain during summer months. Go for a walk or run everyday, maybe even hit the gym. Go on a trip or a small vacation and experience new things this summer! New sights and sounds always stimulate brain power. Keeping your brain active can even be as simple as creating a small work of art on your down time or doing some writing in your journal. There are so many activities and alternatives to being a couch potato that will keep your brain active and healthy for coming semesters, so have fun this summer but don’t forget to keep up with your mental health.