Brian Michael

I go to a suitcase school, meaning that every weekend, a substantial amount of students return home for that duration. I rarely go back to my hometown, mostly saving that for breaks and holidays. It does get a bit lonely, but usually I would have a couple friends around to hang out with.

Now imagine a weekend at school during the summer.

Most students have not moved in yet, leaving me to my own devices. Well, let’s just say I don’t have much devices left. For this summer, I moved in with my mother. She’s a very busy person, and as such I did not see her much. Most weekends I returned to my hometown and got to see other family members and friends, which was nice. But during the week, as soon as work was over, my mind let out a metaphorical sigh.

I need my social interactions. I would often check my grocery list in hopes that it was long enough to warrant a trip to Walmart. I recently moved back to school, but there has not been many occasions where I would get to talk to someone.

Okay, so after re-reading this blog post, I’ve realized it’s a bit too “oh, boo-hoo” for my liking. So, let’s change things up a bit. Welcome to Five Random Activities to Do While You’re Bored Waiting for School to Start.

Five Random Activities to Do While You’re Bored Waiting for School to Start

1. Game Development

I might be a tad bit biased, but making games is pretty fun. I’ve been making games for about three years now, and I have some projects to show for it on my itch.io page. It may seem overwhelming at first, but as long as you stick to a couple simple tutorials, you’ll become mediocre in no time (three years). If starting out, here are some relatively simple game ideas:

• Flappy Bird clone
• Pong clone
• Snake clone
• Tic-Tac-Toe (no AI)
• Tic-Tac-Toe (with “AI” (randomly choose a spot to mark (actually, maybe you can come up with something better than whatever I ended up making for my AI class)))

2. Start a Blog

Now, I understand this may not seem like an attractive option to many, but I recommend giving it a shot. It’s fun to shout in the void with little to no response, but I’m sure if one were to make a blog with a bigger purpose, it could pay off. If you’re having trouble coming up with blog ideas, here’s a couple:

• Movies blog
• Book blog
• Pet blog
• Dog blog
• Dog With a Blog blog

3. Watch a Movie/TV Show

Honestly, this is one that I struggle with, for some reason. Maybe it’s TikTok dwindling my attention span, but I really just don’t find myself wanting to watch anything that isn’t five seconds long or on YouTube. At the start of summer, one of my coworkers gave me two movies to watch, Heat and Orange County. I successfully managed to watch neither, but anyways, here are some TV show rec’s:

• Gotham (my favorite show)
• Breaking Bad (best show of all time)
• Squid Game
• Burn Notice
• Wheel of Fortune

And, of course, some movies:

• Heat (I heard it’s good)
• Orange County (I heard it’s good)
• Wreck-It Ralph
• Ralph Breaks the Internet
• Wreck-It Ralph 3 (when that comes out)

4. Learn How to Do Magic Tricks

I remember my high school days, where I would walk around with a deck of cards in my pocket (😬). I used to be a big fan of America’s Got Talent, and I remember waiting for the singing performances to end so I could watch magicians. One in particular, Shin Lim, inspired me greatly. There’s lots of simple tutorials for learning card tricks online. Here are some cool decks of cards:

• Bicycle Black Tiger Playing Cards
• Bicycle Coca-Cola Playing Cards
• Hoyle Clear Waterproof Playing Cards
• Bicycle Big Box Playing Cards
• Bicycle Mini Playing Cards

5. Create Art

Draw! Paint! Sculpt! The possibilities are endless. You don’t have to be a pro either, once you have it on display in your room it’ll make for a funny conversation starter. I personally want to be better at drawing. Here are some things I’d like to be able to draw well:

• Superheroes
• Assorted fruits
• The dog from Dog With a Blog
• The dad from Dog With a Blog
• Mona Lisa

Well, that concludes my list! Remember, if you use any of these ideas you are legally required to comment down below and credit me for it. Happy hobby-ing!