Another avenue to explore for summer opportunities are those that focus on community service and helping others. You may be used to your school providing you with options for volunteering in your city or town, but summer programs can open the door to new opportunities, with options like building houses in a foreign country to learning a new language while contributing to the local community. Or maybe that local organization you help out with during the school year would be happy to fill up your extra hours once school is out. As CollegeXpress summer program blogger Dan McKeever notes, “the demand for service is so great,” you’ll find many choices when you start your summer search. If you want to travel but prefer to skip the touristy attractions and see what life in another country is really like, a program such as The Road Less Traveled allows you to lend a helping hand while also interacting with residents and seeing a perspective beyond that from a tour bus.