Summer is a time for sun, fun and relaxation – for some of us. For others, the warm weather just means extra time to study up for SATs, get summer reading done and prepare for the next school year. Regardless of your academic style, summer is a great time to work on expanding your resume and get a head start on your higher-level education. Whether you have big plans coming up or none at all, there’s a great opportunity waiting at Fairfield University that you should take advantage of, and it’s called the Summer Scholars Program.

Summer Scholars is an annual two-week program where rising high school juniors and seniors (and sometimes sophomores) live on campus at Fairfield U and take a college class. Yes, a real college class – with a professor, actual college students and everything. The best part? You also earn real, actual credit.

Not sure you want to spend two weeks of your summer cooped up in another classroom? Well, you should. Here’s why:

• A variety of interesting classes are offered over the summer; some of the more popular ones include biology, creative writing and philosophy. Each course is taught by one of Fairfield’s excellent professors and includes three-hour classes Monday through Friday, projects, in-class assignments, homework, a final and some classes also include discussions, guest speakers and presentations. To complete your work, you are granted access to the library and computer lab and the program’s schedule has built-in study time. Because this is a real college class, the work load can be quite heavy. Some classes require more study time and give more homework than others, but all classes have a no-joke nature and you will be expected to complete all assignments.. Don’t let the workload deter or intimidate you, though. If you manage your time well, it is certainly doable, with more than enough time to participate in all the other cool, fun activities and just hang out with the other students

• Different activities are offered throughout the two weeks, both academic and not. Workshops on college preparation/applications, career opportunities and other helpful information are held; attendance for these is mandatory. Some fun things offered include tie-dying, games on the quad, movie nights, trips into New York City, karaoke/dance parties and arts and crafts. If you’d rather just spend time walking around campus or watching TV with your new friends, that’s ok too – there is a lot of flexibility in terms of how you spend your time.

• The goal of this program is to give you a true college experience, and that means giving students a lot of freedom. While a schedule is put in place for every day, students are not required to follow it strictly. You must report to every meal (but once you check in you don’t have to stay the whole rime), attend every class (unless you have a valid excuse), attend every workshop and be in the dorm building (but not necessarily in your room) by midnight. Other than that, as long you stay on campus and don’t do anything illegal, you can pretty much do just about anything you want. You don’t have to take part in any of the recreational activities if you don’t want to and you can balance out study and play however you want. Just like a real college student, you are responsible for taking care of personal issues, like doing laundry and keeping your dorm room clean. As long as you meet the few strict requirements, everything else you do is your call

• This program will let you meet a lot of new people. When living on campus, you will share a standard dorm room with a fellow Summer Stag. Your roommate will be assigned to you and you’ll have the opportunity to meet someone new. Students are selected from not only around the country, but around the world, so you have the chance of meeting some pretty cool people. Boys and girls are housed in the same building but on separate floors. Some meals will be eaten in the cafeteria and others will be take-out from local restaurants. Throughout the two weeks, you are also allowed to order take-out for yourself or with your friends.

• During the program, you are mostly independent. You have your roommate and fellow students to spend time with as well as RAs to guide you, but other than the program directors checking in on you throughout the week and setting up activities, you are on your own. This is a great time to adjust to college life and how different it is to be on your own, without parents or teachers constantly keeping watch over you. You can really get a feel for what it’s like to be independent while still having some supervision.

Summer Scholars is an awesome program that really exposes students to college life on a smaller scale. You’ll get to see what it feels like to live on campus, which will help you decide what type of college is best for you. And if you start to feel overwhelmed by the experience, don’t worry – there are staff members and fellow students to help you out and you have at least one more high school year to really get ready. If your class doesn’t go so well, don’t stress, because the stakes aren’t too high. Even if your time at Fairfield U is just overall not good in the slightest, at least you’ll know what to expect for college, how best to prepare yourself and whether or not living on campus is for you. There really is no downside to participating in this great opportunity. You’ve got nothing to lose, so try it out!

If this sounds like something you’d be up for this summer, check out:

https://www.fairfield.edu/academics/summerprograms/summerscholarsprogram/