{"id":278008,"date":"2026-05-20T12:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/278008\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T12:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:12:07","slug":"opinion-summer-studying-makes-me-excited-to-learn-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/278008\/","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: Summer studying makes me excited to learn again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>It can be tempting to spend summer ignoring academics, but it\u2019s actually one of the best times to take learning into your own hands. ORACLE GRAPHIC\/AUDREY KOCZANSKI<\/p>\n

As much as I\u2019d love to pretend otherwise, I\u2019m usually not very \u201clocked in\u201d over summer break.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The responsibilities of a traditional semester \u2014 living independently, managing coursework and participating in extracurricular activities \u2014 quickly add up and make it all too tempting to view summer as a time to laze around unburdened by anything academic.<\/p>\n

But I think it\u2019s important to stay engaged with learning even outside of school.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I\u2019ve tried to be more intentional about using summer as a way to continue my studies over the last few years.<\/p>\n

The best part of summer learning is that it can be as formal or informal as you want \u2014 but in either case can help keep you prepared for future semesters.<\/p>\n

Summer learning loss is defined as the degradation of academic skills over summer months when they aren\u2019t being practiced in school, according to a 2025 EBSCO article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve definitely experienced this throughout my time at college. I\u2019ll return to classes after an extended break and realize my work feels noticeably lower quality than usual.<\/p>\n

But continuing to study over the summer can help prevent this summer learning loss, according to the EBSCO article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of the best and easiest ways to keep up with summer learning is to take a summer class.<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: Taking summer classes brings students a unique advantage<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Summer classes are shortened, four-to-eight-week versions of regular classes, according to USF\u2019s Office of the Registrar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

For example, this summer, I\u2019m taking Beginning Spanish II<\/a> online. In my section, assignments open in modules which can be completed up to two weeks before their due date.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Still, summer classes aren\u2019t for everyone. I don\u2019t live in Tampa, so I have to take my summer classes online \u2014 and there\u2019s been times where the classes\u2019 schedules have conflicted with family vacation plans, meaning I have to rush to complete work before the due date.<\/p>\n

And I definitely feel I learn better when I have face-to-face physical interactions with my peers and professors.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, preventing summer learning loss doesn\u2019t have to mean simply continuing your traditional academic studies, as expanding your horizons or doing more informal work can also help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In my case, I\u2019ve been using this summer to practice driving \u2014 something I can\u2019t otherwise do, since I don\u2019t own a car on campus.<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: Discussion posts feel more like busy work than real learning<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Summer is also the perfect time to take a hobby class. For a near-campus example, the Tampa Museum of Art<\/a> hosts many free and paid art<\/a> classes from May through August.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested, it\u2019s worth checking what hobby classes are taught in your area.<\/p>\n

Additionally, summer can be a chance to do work relevant to your major \u2014 as an English major, this means doing a lot of reading and writing \u2014 purely for pleasure.<\/p>\n

Approaching work from this perspective has reignited my passion for my major.<\/p>\n

Over a full semester, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

But returning to the same work I\u2019d do in a real semester \u2014 now in my own time and at my own pace \u2014 has reminded me that it can actually be very enjoyable.<\/p>\n

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\u2019ve been feeling demotivated about work.<\/p>\n

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\u2019re most passionate about.<\/p>\n

Really, that\u2019s the most important type of learning there is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It can be tempting to spend summer ignoring academics, but it\u2019s actually one of the best times to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-278008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}