If you are weighing up whether to spend part of your summer on an academic programme instead of at home with friends, you may already be asking: is this actually worth it, or is it simply something my parents want me to do?

It is a fair question. The honest answer is that it depends entirely on what you do with the opportunity. But the fact that you are considering it already says something worth paying attention to.

What choosing this says about you

Most people your age spend summer doing what feels comfortable and familiar. Choosing instead to go somewhere new, meet strangers and tackle subjects you have not mastered yet is not a small thing. It means you are curious enough to exchange a few weeks of certainty for a few weeks of not quite knowing what you are doing.

That instinct — to seek out challenge rather than avoid it — can take you a long way. Not because difficulty is automatically good, but because it is how you discover what you are capable of.

A great deal of what you get from a programme has little to do with being the most talented person there. It has more to do with willingness. You do not need to be the best in the room. You need to be prepared to be the least confident person in the room for a little while, and stay anyway.

What to look for before you commit

Not every summer programme is built in the same way. It is worth being more demanding than asking whether it sounds impressive.

Put people before place

A beautiful building or famous city is appealing, but it will not teach you anything on its own. Ask who is actually leading the sessions. Are they people who work in the field, or people reading from a script?

You can often tell quickly whether someone is genuinely interested in helping you think, or simply delivering material. Look for tutors who invite questions, challenge assumptions and help you connect a subject to the real world.

Choose doing over listening

Find a programme that gets you building, debating, presenting, coding or pitching something — not simply taking notes on someone else’s ideas.

The version of you that leaves having made or defended something real will learn more, and remember more, than the version who sat quietly and absorbed information. Active learning gives you something useful to reflect on afterwards: what you tried, what worked and what you would do differently next time.

Look for real disagreement, not just group work

Some of the most useful moments in any programme come when you have to defend an idea to someone who does not already agree with you. That might be a debate, a mock trial or a pitch to a panel that pushes back.

Being agreed with all the time does not teach you much. Being challenged does. It teaches you how to listen, respond thoughtfully and improve an argument without taking disagreement personally.

Spend time with people unlike you

If you have the choice, look for a programme that draws people from different backgrounds and countries, and encourages you to work with them rather than simply eat lunch near them.

University, work and life beyond school will not be full of people who think exactly like you or grew up where you did. Practising how to learn alongside people with different experiences is a real advantage — and often one of the most enjoyable parts of an international programme.

Find room to get things wrong

Ask whether the programme gives you space to try something that may not work: a pitch that falls flat, a debate you lose or a design that does not hold up under questioning.

A programme where everyone succeeds at everything all the time is probably not stretching anyone. The experiences that let you make small mistakes safely can teach you the most about handling bigger challenges later.

What to take from the experience

When the programme is over, do not judge the summer by how much content you can remember. Much of the detail will fade, and that is normal. What should stay with you is something less obvious.

Evidence, not just a feeling

You should come away with proof, to yourself, that you can walk into an unfamiliar situation and figure it out. That is more than a general confidence boost. It is a specific memory you can return to whenever you are about to try something that feels intimidating: you have done something difficult before, in a room full of strangers, and you were fine.

A better idea of what interests you

Programmes can introduce you to subjects and situations school does not always offer: negotiation, public argument, technical problem-solving or collaborative design. Notice what you are drawn to, not only what you are already good at. The two are not always the same, and the difference is worth noticing early.

People worth keeping in touch with

The friendships you make while doing something challenging together can be unusually real. Keep in touch with the people who mattered. In ten years, some of them may be doing interesting things — and so, hopefully, will you.

A bigger idea of what is normal

After a few weeks around people from different countries, with different assumptions about what is ambitious or achievable, it can become harder to think small about your own future. That shift may be quiet, but it is one of the most valuable things you can bring home.

Make the summer count

None of this depends on a programme having a famous name attached to it. It depends on whether you show up willing to be a little uncomfortable, pay attention to who is teaching you and take the risk of trying something you may not be good at yet.

Do that, and you can get far more from the summer than a line on an application. You can gain a clearer, more accurate sense of what you are capable of — and that is worth more than almost anything else a summer could give you.