It can be tempting to spend summer ignoring academics, but it’s actually one of the best times to take learning into your own hands. ORACLE GRAPHIC/AUDREY KOCZANSKI
As much as I’d love to pretend otherwise, I’m usually not very “locked in” over summer break.
The responsibilities of a traditional semester — living independently, managing coursework and participating in extracurricular activities — quickly add up and make it all too tempting to view summer as a time to laze around unburdened by anything academic.
But I think it’s important to stay engaged with learning even outside of school.
That’s why I’ve tried to be more intentional about using summer as a way to continue my studies over the last few years.
The best part of summer learning is that it can be as formal or informal as you want — but in either case can help keep you prepared for future semesters.
Summer learning loss is defined as the degradation of academic skills over summer months when they aren’t being practiced in school, according to a 2025 EBSCO article.
I’ve definitely experienced this throughout my time at college. I’ll return to classes after an extended break and realize my work feels noticeably lower quality than usual.
But continuing to study over the summer can help prevent this summer learning loss, according to the EBSCO article.
One of the best and easiest ways to keep up with summer learning is to take a summer class.
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Summer classes are shortened, four-to-eight-week versions of regular classes, according to USF’s Office of the Registrar.
In my experience, summer classes mix the flexibility I love about self-directed learning with the rigidity I need to motivate me to actually finish my work.
For example, this summer, I’m taking Beginning Spanish II online. In my section, assignments open in modules which can be completed up to two weeks before their due date.
This freeform assignment structure allows me to accommodate my transient summer schedule, while the strict due dates provide enough of a tangible structure to prevent me from simply ignoring the work.
Still, summer classes aren’t for everyone. I don’t live in Tampa, so I have to take my summer classes online — and there’s been times where the classes’ schedules have conflicted with family vacation plans, meaning I have to rush to complete work before the due date.
And I definitely feel I learn better when I have face-to-face physical interactions with my peers and professors.
Thankfully, preventing summer learning loss doesn’t have to mean simply continuing your traditional academic studies, as expanding your horizons or doing more informal work can also help.
In my case, I’ve been using this summer to practice driving — something I can’t otherwise do, since I don’t own a car on campus.
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Summer is also the perfect time to take a hobby class. For a near-campus example, the Tampa Museum of Art hosts many free and paid art classes from May through August.
If you’re interested, it’s worth checking what hobby classes are taught in your area.
Additionally, summer can be a chance to do work relevant to your major — as an English major, this means doing a lot of reading and writing — purely for pleasure.
Approaching work from this perspective has reignited my passion for my major.
Over a full semester, it’s easy to get bogged down in the stress of doing work for a grade, under a tight deadline, across several classes and forget why you even enjoyed your major in the first place.
But returning to the same work I’d do in a real semester — now in my own time and at my own pace — has reminded me that it can actually be very enjoyable.
So while formal summer classes can be very useful for keeping up with a structured, rigid education over summer, taking a self-directed approach may be even more productive if you’ve been feeling demotivated about work.
In any case, I believe summer break free time should be used to take learning into your own hands and focus on whatever it is you’re most passionate about.
Really, that’s the most important type of learning there is.