Tomorrow will be the first day of our one and a half months school holidays before we return to our schools on the 3rd of January, 2007. Have you planned your school holidays? If not, I hope this guide could help you in planning your school holidays. Here are a few suggestions on spending your school holidays effectively.
- Preparing for major examinations
- Travelling – relax and refresh our minds and souls
- Working as part-timer – gain working experiences
- Taking courses up or joining a camp – driving lessons, computer classes, writing courses, to improve ourselves; English camp, religious camp to motivate ourselves and meet new friends
Prepare for our major examinations – Those who are going to sit for the major examinations like PMR, SPM and STPM next year should spend the school holidays to prepare for them. Revise all the topics covered in form one and two (for PMR) or form four (for SPM) or lower sixth form (for STPM) besides studying the topics covered in next year syllabuses ahead. A Malaysia Students blog reader suggested that we should always try our best to understand a topic ourselves before it is taught in the classes.
Study the topics far ahead of your teachers' pace. When your teacher comes to the part where you have read and understood, it would be like a revision for you. That way, revision would be made so much easier as you have gone through the information twice without you knowing it or feeling the stress.Personally, I find this study method very effective and would recommend it to you.
Travel to interesting tourist attractions – Have you burnt yourselves out during the year-end exam weeks recently? Travel locally or abroad will certainly relax and refresh the tired minds and souls. Malaysia has a lot to offer with its rich kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and colours. There are plenty of ideal tourist attractions in Malaysia, ranging from vibrant cities of entertainment to breath-taking national parks to historic landmarks to the golden sandy beaches. Travelling can open our eyes to various things around the world and add memorable experiences to our lives.
Work as a part-timer – I would recommend working as a part-timer to those who have sat for SPM or STPM examination this year. This is because you will have approximately six months before you further your studies to form six or university next year. Since SPM and STPM 2006 examination results will be out on March 2007, you can gain a lot of working experiences and money by working while waiting for the results. The working experiences will be an edge for you, be it in your scholarship interviews or future job applications. Personally, I have had great experiences of working as a waiter in a five-star hotel, a promoter in a supermarket and also as a product promoter during TV3’s Jom Heboh carnival.
Take some courses up or join a camp – There are ample courses or classes specially designated for the students during the school holidays to choose from. For instance, computer classes, English courses, driving courses and extensive tuition classes, you name it. These courses are essential if you want to improve yourselves and learn new skills. Moreover, you may want to join a camp such as English camp and religious camp to motivate yourselves and expand your social circles.
Other suggestions – Do whatever you love to do but have not started it yet. For example, I have created Malaysia Students blog while waiting for my SPM result in March 2006. This blog has not achieved any big achievements yet it is something very meaningful to me and my life. ;-) All contributors of this blog enjoy the spirit of helping others and I hope that you would join us to be the contributors too!
Besides that, you might want to take a gap year off study to learn. This concept is very new to Asian countries including Malaysia. You might be interested to read the good write-up on Gap Years by Tiara on her blog.
I am sure that you have other great suggestions on how to spend our school holidays effectively. So why don’t you share them with us by leaving your comments on this post?
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