Sh*t Your Teenagers Won’t Tell You Meaningful Summer Activities for Teens: What Actually Helps Them Grow
Dec 31, 2025
Not all summer activities contribute to real growth for teens. The hosts critique common advice that often leads to superficial experiences, like cookie-cutter internships and pay-to-play programs. They emphasize the value of earned opportunities over those arranged by parents. The conversation highlights the importance of embracing discomfort and taking initiative for personal development. They also discuss the pitfalls of aimless summers versus meaningful downtime, encouraging teens to pursue genuine interests rather than follow peers.
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Internships Often Lack Real Growth
- Many internships teens pursue are curated or handed to them and fail to push them out of their comfort zone.
- Cathy Chen warns that these superficial internships often exist to look impressive rather than to build real skills.
Find Internships Yourself
- Do pursue internships you find yourself by cold-calling or emailing rather than ones your parent arranges.
- Meredith Herrera says earned opportunities build maturity and are taken more seriously in college processes.
Skip Pay-To-Play Prestige Programs
- Avoid pay-to-play programs that promise research with elite professors; instead learn independently.
- Cathy Chen urges curious students to teach themselves rather than buy curated experiences.