Once you’ve graduated from high school, summer seems like the perfect opportunity to relax and do nothing before you enter college. Taking time to unwind and hang out with friends and family is important, but you should also consider some simple steps to make the transition into college life easier. Here are five tips to help you prepare for the fall:
• Brainstorm potential careers
Whether you’re looking to develop new political philosophies, communicate your ideas to a mass audience, promote cooperation between different nations, pursue your passion in the arts or something else entirely, it never hurts to get a head start. Parents, teachers, guidance counselors, even strangers on the street have probably told you that it’s OK if you don’t know what you want to major in or what field you want to go into. They’re right. Nonetheless, exploring the possibilities will save you time down the road and get you thinking about your future long before it arrives.
• Take a summer class
Summer vacation is obviously a time for relaxing and taking a break from the seemingly endless school-year workload, but there’s no shame in wanting to get ahead and continue your education year-round. Community colleges usually offer introductory-level courses with cheaper prices than what you’ll pay at the bigger universities you might be attending in the fall. Be careful, though. Before you enroll and pay for a course, check with your university’s academic department to make sure that you can earn credit for it later on. It’s no fun to repeat a course you’ve already taken, and there’s certainly no reason to pay extra money. Your parents will be thanking you later.
