Block your brain drain these summer vacations

With final exams out of the way, most students want to simply enjoy the summer vacations to the fullest extent possible. However, taking a complete break for two months makes it that much harder to get back into the academic mindset when college reopens. Losing touch with academics completely could even affect performance in the next year. While this does not mean that you should only be focusing on books throughout the vacations; it is possible to strike a balance between learning and enjoyment during the next two months.

There are various sports and extracurricular activities, which can help you to become more knowledgeable, extrovert, active and aware about relevant issues. They will not just help in terms of personality development and communication skills but also to increase the brains concentration power and ability to focus. This, in turn, is tremendously useful when you hit the study books again from June-July 2012.

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Ensure you develop a habit of reading books and newspapers on a daily basis instead of just watching television. This will stimulate your brain and make you think. They provide information that goes deeper than just serial watching and discussions on T20 matches.

Reading books and newspapers also improves your vocabulary and keeps you updated. By reading more, you become better informed and gain understanding on the topics you read. It is beneficial to each and every student belonging to any stream. You can also visit to a local library every week and refer to books on topics that seem interesting. For management aspirants, these are essential steps in preparing for the entrance process.

Physical fitness
Physical activities like swimming and learning martial arts are a great way to stay busy and active. These sports are recreational activities that also help you develop your stamina and enable studying for longer hours when it matters.

Swimming is a perfect sport for summer as you get exercise, stay cool and fit, and also enjoy yourself simultaneously.  It tones up most muscles of the body, making you more fit and mentally refreshed after the grueling exams.

Martial arts are popular as self defense tactics, to improve fitness levels, as well as enhance concentration. Women specially, benefit from learning these techniques for self defense, which are useful when they are travelling home after late study sessions in the college library. It helps to bring out the positive qualities that have always been within you. One also develops patience, confidence, self-discipline, inner calm, and a consistently positive mental attitude. It helps to overcome fear, self-doubt, anger, jealousy, laziness, and bad habits.

Rhythm divine
Music and dance are again two activities with multiple benefits. Dance helps to develop muscles, tone the body, improve circulation, improve posture, balance, co-ordination and promotes greater flexibility. It also helps to shape up your personality. Students who take up dance feel more enthusiastic and fare better in academics. The art of dance helps you to focus, be creative and disciplined, all in which are mandatory to excel in any area of education.

Learning to play musical instruments is fun. Researchers have shown that playing a musical instrument is one of the best stress buster techniques and it affects the brain in a positive way. Students who are involved in music helps to improve their science and math grades because it enhances your abstract reasoning skills needed for learning these subjects. So if you are a science student, learning musical instrument may have great benefits.

The basic idea is to utilize the next two months constructively, keeping your brain refreshed and recharged so that it doesn't lose momentum and is able to effortlessly switch over to study mode when the next academic year begins.