Summer is quickly rounding the bend, so students are substituting Charles Dickens for a John Green beach read, boots for bare feet that sink into the sand, and Smartboards for foreign city scapes. However, not all students are parting with books and backpacks in favor of summertime adventures.

Students like Ally Hirsh ’15 have instead used their summers to get involved in academic programs at colleges and universities. With an interest in sports psychology and the desire for a pre-college experience on a campus, Hirsh signed up for a week-long class at Brown University.

“We worked with some professionals in kinesiology and were able to do labs testing our own fitness levels the way our teacher did with her clients of her company, VO2max,” Hirsh said.

An alternative option that is similar to taking classes at a university is to enroll in a summer course right at Staples. Students like Eric Zurmuehle ’14 and Kana Higuchi ’15 took advantage of this and were able to lighten their course loads for the following year.

Zurmuehle took a three week course on U.S. Politics and Government the summer before his senior year which allowed him to focus on the course without the stress of his numerous other classes. According to Zurmuehle, the class was very relaxed and the teachers gave plenty of time to complete the assignments. “The best part was the breaks we got where we could go get food,” Zurmuehle said.

Higuchi, on the other hand, opted to take physical education the summer going into her sophomore year, which enabled her to fill her schedule with two languages, two math classes, and a free period for a quarter of her sophomore year. Having a free period was a major stress reliever for Higuchi and gave her extra time to catch up on homework and meet with teachers. “I was especially thankful I had a free before AP exams and SAT’s because I had time in school to prepare for them,” Higuchi said.

Whether it’s hitting the books or hitting the beach, students are working hard and playing hard in the summertime.