text: Even with the plethora of benefits to student-designed projects, there is an argument for teacher-designed projects being more essential to student learning. Student-designed projects have been countered by many, detailing that they are very time-consuming and stray away from crucial learning targets since each student is focusing on a different topic. Although this rationale is reasonable, the goal of a summer project is to ensure that the student is learning about a topic they are interested in. A summer project is not to teach students any concepts; it is more so for them to take what they have learned and develop an application to it. By allowing students to find a topic that is best suited to their passions, they are given the freedom to extend their knowledge to the best of their ability and the encouragement to really engage in the learning process.