Everyone can feel spring in the air right now with 60-degree weather and t-shirts all around. 

Right as spring starts there’s always a fast track to the last few weeks of school so the question is: What are some fun plans for the summer? Right now, there are only two months left until June. Any summer plans have to be made now. The week off in April always accelerates the end of the school year. Whatever summer plans are accessible, grab them. 

“I’m traveling [to Italy] and I’m also doing a volunteer program at a hospital,” Rhea Sanghavi, a sophomore here at NVD said. 

In hopes of pursuing a job in the medical field, Sanghavi will spend three hours a week volunteering at the hospital as she gains new experiences and gets insight into what it is like. She’s then also going to spend two straight weeks vacationing in Italy. 

“I’m going to Italy with a friend. She’s not in this school, she’s at another school,” Sanghavi said.

When is a better time to fly to a dream destination and experience a different place than during the summer? Europe, the West Coast, and tropical islands are all places that are worth visiting with family. Applying to a teen tour is also a great way to have a fun plan and get a completely different life experience where you could even go with great friends. 

As an opportunity to meet new people and gain new experiences Sophomore Schuyler Berenbroick hopes she can decide on a job. She’s come up with different options for this summer as she already has plans to spend it on the beach. 

“Hopefully I’ll be at a restaurant or I’m looking for jobs at camps. And then I’m also looking for an internship at maybe the Hampton Film Festival,” Berenbroick said. “I’ll also be doing a lot of volleyball and I will hopefully be going to do a league at IMG Academy.”

Boredom is the last thing any teenager wants when it’s the summertime. This should be the year where there is less time spent on the phone and more time living real experiences before school begins again. Berenbroick plans to spend most of this summer at her family’s beach house in the Hamptons. 

“I’ll be there with my family but also my cousin who I’m close with. Hopefully, for a few weekends, I can bring some of my friends and we can hang out there,” Berenbroick said. 

It’s important too that this summer and spring is filled with spending time with others who make each other happy. With warmer weather, there is always an endless amount of things to do. 

As for 15-year-old Julia Bardin, she just set in stone her decision to work at a day camp for the summer. Palisades Country Day School, a preschool in Closter, runs a day camp in the summertime for toddlers and kids up to the age of eight. Bardin just signed up to work there starting at the end of June and into the middle of August. 

“My family has been going to the camp and school for many years,” Bardin said.

Many teenagers end up wanting to go back to the camp they went to as a child so that they can now get to experience it as a counselor. Julia has two older sisters who worked at the camp during summers and attended the pre-school before her. Now she plans on having that same experience of getting work there and making bonds with kids for a summer. 

“I know some coworkers from last year,” Bardin said and added that during this coming summer, she’s also going to meet new faces who are coming to work there for the first time.

So, where does the task of looking for summer plans begin? There is lifeguarding, camp counseling, spending time at the beach, traveling, and working a small job. These are all easily accessible ways of making memories this upcoming summer. Gaining new experiences is what those two months are all about so letting it waste away without opportunities will take away the chance to have unimaginable fun. 

Even with the inevitable summer homework that will come, including ACT or SAT preparations, it’s better to build time around activities for those things than centralizing them as a part of the summer. Teenage years are only experienced for this short period of time in life so live it to its potential and fill it with excitement.