Using Summer for More Than Vacation

Using Summer for More Than Vacation For high school students, summer vacation is a three-month recess to forget the pressures of teachers, homework, grades and tests. For many, it is a time to seek out the sun and engage in some fun. But for others, it also is a period of learning, self-discovery and growth: It’s that first job, a memorable trip, a long-term project or goal attained after hard work. Sharing their memories, high school students wrote essays or talked with DEBORAH BELGUM about their summers.

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VANESSA ENNES, 16, of Redondo Beach, a junior at Redondo Union High School, attended the National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, where she participated in a model Congress, mock international crisis and visited the Hungarian Embassy.