As many who study abroad know, coming back home for the holidays is a welcome respite from the heavy workload of university courses and indicates a long-awaited reunion with friends and family. Although it is important to take the time to relax and give yourself a well-deserved break, you will soon find out that having basically nothing to do gets really old, really fast. Here are three prime ways in which you can actually be productive this summer and get out of that slump.

  1. Join a Gym

Between all our assignments and coursework, I am sure very few of us manage to squeeze in the time to take care of our bodies and exercise every once in a while. The summer vacation provides an ideal opportunity to get back in shape.
Check out this article on Jeddah’s top gyms.
Top Five Gyms in Jeddah

2. Take some online courses

There isn’t a better time than summer vacation to finish some credits early on and get ahead in your studies, especially when you have around 3 months’ worth of free time.

Oxford Royale Academy offers online courses for ‘University Preparation’. Each course is about SR 147 for instant access and its duration is 4-6 hours. Once done with the course, you are granted a certificate as well. Some of the courses offered include: Introduction to Medicine, Introduction to Law, Human Rights Law, Introduction to Film Studies and English Essay Writing.
Web: University Preparation course

For those interested in photography, The New York Institute of Photography offers ten online courses that you can choose from. The course length is about 270 hours for 6 units.
Web: Photography course

Web: Accredited Online Photography Degrees & Certifications

UCLA also offers online courses for students during the summer. Broaden your horizons and grasp the opportunity. For more information on fees and registration, check out:

Web: UCLA

3. Find an internship or volunteer

This is particularly relevant for those of us still in our early years of university studies, since finding employment without at least 3 years of studies behind you can be a struggle. An internship is an optimal solution since you will gain some much needed work experience.

To find an internship, contact companies that you are interested in and see if they offer internships. You will be surprised to find out that many companies are probably looking for YOU! As for volunteering, there are many charities and non-profits that would welcome the help such as Mawakeb Al-Ajr, My Library, Open Skies and Help Center.
Read this article about volunteering locations to find out more, Charities and Volunteer Initiatives .