More often enough, students are so engrossed into our studies that we forget to appreciate the world around us. Continuing from part 1, more suggestions are provided here to make the summer the best it can be!…
Consider travelling
You may recall from my learning beyond your degree blog post that I studied Persian for a year alongside my studies then went to Iran over the summer. There, I travelled to various cities around northern Iran: Tehran (تهران), Tajrish (تجریش) and Mashhad (مشحد). Mashhad is considered to be a very holy city in Iran and Shia Islam and the architecture of the Imam Reza shrine is absolutely gorgeous, no matter what hour of the day you visit. Learning the language made the experience even more enjoyable, because I could speak with the locals to learn more about the culture and country, speak with my family without needing my lovely aunty to translate everything for me and I could navigate my way around the town (Kashanak) I stayed in using street signs without looking at the English text beneath it!
Study Abroad
The university offers many study abroad schemes which you can apply for and some are for summer as well! Make sure you keep your eyes peeled throughout the year as many opportunities are added when they become available. Some of the summer schools even offer scholarships which help towards tuition fees and travel costs, but this is dependent on the scholarship you apply for. Not only you get to learn a new subject, but you also have the chance to visit a country which you may not have visited before, so you can become immersed in the culture as well!
Summer internships
Summer internships are a great way of developing skills, enhancing your CV, making connections (it could be the company that employs you after you graduate!) and maybe a little money on the side too! Many companies offer internships, it’s just a case of choosing which sector and tailoring your CV to the role you apply for. Warwick offers many internships, including WSI, WMG internships and a research-based internship (The URSS program). I have personally completed the URSS programme and it was an incredible experience. It helped me develop my skillset in research and it gave me valuable insight into what a career in research would be like.
Pick up a new hobby
Sometimes our studies take over and a degree can become so intensive that we find little time to wind down and discover something new! The summer is a perfect opportunity to do that as you have three months to work on it! A new hobby could be reading a book, painting, learning a language, filming, going to the gym and many more! If you want to become an avid reader, remember that the library is open as normal throughout the summer so you can read to your heart’s content at any time during the day or night!
I hope you enjoyed this two-part series and I also hope it gave you quite a few ideas of what you can do over the summer. Don’t forget to book out times in the holidays to just relax! I’ll see you again soon!