Congratulations on finishing yet another year of school! Another grade over, and another gaping void that is known as summer. My family is not the type to go out for a long family getaway, so often, finding something to do in the summer can be a pain. Over the past few weeks, I tried in vain to apply to several jobs to fill up my time, but unfortunately, it was all for naught. Most employers were looking for employees that would be willing to work past the summer as well, and being a busy student, I figured that wasn’t the best choice for me. Instead, I’ve decided to focus my time doing other activities that isn’t work this summer. And just in case you find yourself in the same boat, here are some opportunities to make sure you have a full and fun summer!
SUNIA
I first heard about SUNIA while I was representing my school at UC Model UN this year, and from the moment the ambassadors showed us the trailer, I was interested. A week-long excursion to camp INSERT, SUNIA is a great opportunity for those interested in Model UN, current events, and international politics. With all the fun outdoor opportunities that you would find at a normal camp, each year, two UN representatives also attends the camp to educate and help campers with the Security Council portion of the camp and to teach them more about the UN in general. As someone who is interested in political sciences and perhaps a future in the UN, I think this will be a very rewarding experience and definitely the highlight of my summer. The exciting thing is that registration isn’t over yet! Apply at sunia.ca by July 1st to guarantee your spot and to find out more about what they do. If you sign up for week A, see you there!
YOUTH CENTRAL SUMMER CAMPS
In the summer prior to my Grade 10 year, I spent a lot of time in the summer volunteering for various projects wih Youth Central and ranked up hefty hours doing projects that made me forget that I was even volunteering! I met ton of inspiring and dedicated youth that summer, and a lot of those connections helped me in high school and continue to be important to me today. I was able to participate in activities that I never would have done on my own, like building a house out of branches, riding unicycles, powering a stage by riding a bike, and much more. The summer is also a busy time in Calgary culturally, and there are endless festivals and activities that you can sign up to help with. I have incredibly fond memories of that time in my life, and I would love to be able to relive that again this summer by doing more projects! Something that I would really love to do more of is the summer camp opportunities. There are so many on the Youth Central database and they are very well spread out around the city so no matter where you live, there is a summer camp you can volunteer at close to you. The great thing about them is that you must volunteer there for at least one week, meaning that you get to know the kids you work with, an really become a councilor and friend to them, while getting to do all the cool stuff they do at the camp as well. If you aren’t a Youth Central volunteer already, visit youthcentral.com to find out how you can become one and be involved in a ton of cool projects this summer.
CREATE A BUCKET LIST OF ALL THE EVENTS YOU WANT TO ATTEND THIS SUMMER
Like I mentioned, summer is one of the most vibrant times in the city, and there is no shortage of things to do. Whether it be a new exhibition at the Glenbow, or a cool cultural festival, there is no much the city has to offer that isn’t just visiting Chinook Mall. Check out Avenue Calgary’s website for a list of all the things that are going on over the next few months. You’ll quickly notice that there is something going on every single day, and if you plan out which events yo want to attend, there will be no shortage of fun for you this summer. I know that I have personally put off visiting some pretty cool locations over the past year to focus on school, so in addition to attending cool events, I hope to also explore our city more.
What are your plans for the summer? Is there anything that you would like to recommend to those without a summer plan right now? Comment below! Have a terrific summer everyone 🙂