6 productive things students can do over school break
School breaks are often seen as a time to unwind—and rightly so. After weeks or months of assignments, exams, and long nights, taking a breather is essential. But in between the Netflix binges and late mornings, breaks also offer a rare chance to get ahead without the usual pressures of school life.
Being productive doesn't mean filling every minute with work. Instead, it's about using part of your free time to invest in yourself—your goals, your future, or even your peace of mind.
Here are six things you can do over break that balance rest with meaningful growth.
Update your resume or portfolio
Whether you're preparing your college applications or planning for internships after school ends, your resume is often the first impression you make.
A school break is the perfect time to refresh it. Add any new experience you've gained, such as campus projects, volunteer work, or academic achievements. If you're in a creative or tech field, consider updating your portfolio as well—organise your best work, clean up your layout, and make it presentable for future opportunities.
Even if you're not actively applying yet, having an updated resume on hand saves time and reduces stress when deadlines come around.
Learn a new skill
Short online courses are ideal during breaks. They're often self-paced, and you can dip in and out as your schedule allows. Whether it's learning Excel, coding, public speaking, graphic design, or even budgeting—small skills can compound over time.
Platforms like Coursera, Skillshare, LinkedIn Learning, and even YouTube offer free or affordable options. Choose something that genuinely interests you or aligns with your long-term goals.
Bonus: You can add these completed courses to your LinkedIn profile or resume.
Shadow a professional
or volunteer locally
Breaks are a great time to test-drive career interests. Shadowing a professional in a field you're curious about can offer clarity you won't get from textbooks or career websites. Even a day or two can give you insight into whether a path is right for you.
If shadowing isn't possible, volunteering is another valuable way to gain experience and give back.
Many nonprofits and community groups welcome extra help during school holidays, and volunteering can also expand your network and build soft skills like teamwork and communication.
Declutter and organise your digital life
It's not glamorous, but organising your digital space can save you serious time later. Use your break to clean up your desktop, sort files into folders, delete unused apps, and back up important documents.
Go through your inbox and unsubscribe from newsletters you never read.
Organise your notes from last semester so they're easy to access for future reference or finals. You'll start the next term with a clearer mind and a more efficient setup.
Read something out of academic syllabus
Academic reading is often fast and functional—just enough to prep for an exam or finish a paper. During your break, try reading something for yourself. It doesn't have to be a classic or a self-help bestseller (unless that's your thing). Fiction, memoir, essays, long-form journalism—anything that expands your worldview or simply offers a good story can be mentally refreshing.
Reading outside of assignments improves critical thinking and writing skills almost by accident. Plus, it's one of the few productive things that also feels like a true break.
Reflect and plan for the next term
School breaks are the ideal time to check in with yourself. What worked well last semester? What didn't? Are your current habits helping or holding you back? Take some time to journal or think through your academic and personal goals.
If you're feeling ambitious, you can map out major deadlines for the next term, organise your calendar, or set a few small goals—like joining a campus club, applying for scholarships, or taking more regular study breaks.
Even a loose plan can help you feel more in control when classes resume.
Productivity doesn't have to mean hustle. Using your break to grow in small, intentional ways can make a big difference—without ruining the restful spirit of vacation. With a little planning, you can return to school refreshed
and
more prepared than ever.
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Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
My brand is respected in India because everyone panders to the rich; we do not: Sabyasachi
Just back from the Met Gala , where he dressed Shah Rukh Khan; attending luxury conferences in London and New York; picking up the Most Impactful Asian in Arts, Fashion and Lifestyle award at the Gold House Gala in Los Angeles and jetting off for speeches at Harvard and now Oxford, Sabyasachi , founder-director of the eponymous label, is having a busy 25th anniversary year. He spoke to Kanika Gahlaut at his new office in Kanak Building, Kolkata, about his journey so far and what it takes to build an Indian luxury brand. Edited excerpts: It's been 25 years of your label. At that time, fashion had a certain type of people. You were not typical. Fashion was very elitist then, and continues to be. Fashion in India was rich people making rich clothes for their rich friends. Today, wealth is more widespread geographically. Rich has varied meanings. Which is why new players have entered the market and these new customers don't have existing relationships with older designers. But the game is the same; to succeed you need to be friends with your customer. That is something I had resolved never to do from the beginning. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Live Comfortably: 60 m² Prefab Bungalow for Seniors in Hoa Loi Pre Fabricated Homes | Search Ads Search Now Undo Though you were an outsider, the industry accepted you. It gave you the right placings. I fought for it too. We didn't have much. My grandmother told us, 'Just because we are poor does not mean we cannot have standards.' The middle and the lower class were told, 'This was not your scene, you don't belong.' We heard this not just of the fashion industry, but of entrepreneurship in general. As kids, if we wanted to do something audacious, our parents asked, 'Who do you think you are? Tata, Birla?' Starting a business was seen as a gamble, not an opportunity; and we were never to gamble. I always defied classism inside my head. When I was growing up, I didn't feel poor. Now that I'm rich, I don't feel rich. You've gained a reputation for being reticent… Live Events Reticence is when you are not available to people emotionally. I'm just not available transactionally. I don't like to waste my time. If I don't meet interesting people, I'd rather keep to myself, be at home and watch Netflix. I'll demystify something for you. I'm not an intellectual. People say I am, but I make no pretence. Are you cerebral? I'm sensitive to things, people, influences. Okay, let me get to it another way. So you don't get affected by changing fortunes, there is a sense of being untouched. Then there's the reticent label. Then there's your signature style that is slightly melancholic, in the way you run shades of brown through colours, a soberness in joy. I am a loner, an idealist and, in many ways, a big romantic. I am also a massive drifter. I have no anchorage, no home. Having no sense of place or people allows me to absorb influences. When you are a drifter, you don't attach yourself to a particular identity, you gather them along the way. But what doesn't change is your core. I'm the designer who's done the most varied amount of work in this country: from fashion to anti-fashion; from glamour, bodycon, sex bomb to organic and tribal; from cosmopolitan to corporate dressing, from sophisticated to bohemian, from vintage elegance to travel chic. Let's talk about fabrics: khadi, brocade, wool, leather, acetate, plastic, paper, polyester, recycled nylon, rayon, neoprene—I've used it all. My colours vary from vintage to metallic, from earth tones to neon. Yet people call me repetitive and rightly so—I have an unshakeably strong core. I'm not limited by politics, boundaries, geographies. I define myself as a human first, Indian second and Calcuttan third. I'm not from a time when there were conversations on appropriation. Appropriation for me is a celebration. I can go anywhere in the world, and pick up something and appreciate its influence in my work. If I don't have the agency to speak the truth, I'd rather not speak at all. In trying to be politically correct, we say things we don't mean, or mean nothing at all. When you become successful because of your school of thought, everyone celebrates you; but when more becomes more, people will start to crucify you. Criticism has become such a spectator sport; everyone is now a professional critic. When you control a market, because of the scale to get there, you become vulnerable. There are so many mouths to feed that you have to keep the business churning. The market starts dictating what you should do. You lose your identity. But some of us wake up and see the bigger picture—that if I don't retain who I am, I'll disappear from the landscape. People have always paid me for my mind, not my hand. If I borrow their mind and use my hand, I'm no longer a brand; I'm just a karigar. That's why I stopped customising. The fundamental philosophy of an artist is to sell your mind, not your skill. The mind must be above the skill. Otherwise, you become a service provider, not a solution provider. Designers are not supposed to be service providers. The smartest thing I did in the last five years was to get off all social media. With all the noise in the world, there is no scope for original work if you don't protect your mind. I've learned to compete with only myself. My first relationship is with the people who work for my company, to ensure they get their salaries. My second relationship is with my customers, who help me earn my bread. Finally comes my interaction with the press. Many designers have built their relationships first with the press, second with customers and third with their backend—a recipe for an unsustainable business. The mind has to be fearless to do the best body of work. For many, fashion means a quick entry into fame; and that's where the cookie crumbles. Designers who are level-headed build lasting businesses, like Ralph Lauren . Their successes do not depend on the whims of the press or the tastes of the times. One must understand where art needs to end and commerce must begin, and recognise its equal importance in the reverse. In my fashion business, I will never let art take over commerce. But I have an art foundation, where I never let commerce overtake art. Fashion is a commodity business masquerading as art. You can't sell 10,000 pieces of a garment and call it art. The Mona Lisa is art; putting her on a T-shirt is a commodity. I understand that balance and I'm not anguished by walking the line. When catering to your global market and to the domestic one, do you have to change your moves? The culture, DNA and philosophy of the brand will never change. Within that realm, if I can create a product that talks to a particular audience in a particular geography, I'll create the product. For instance, in New York, I make clothes climate-appropriate, with solid colours or a lens of patterns attuned to a Western eye. What I will not compromise on is the way the clothes are made, how we source the fabrics and the amount of hand-work we have to do. My international business is small but growing because I am not pandering to the market. When I first went to New York, I did not succeed. The press and merchants all had their opinions: Oh, this is too Indian, that silhouette won't work, it's too heavy, the colour is too strong, get a Western pattern maker. But they didn't know my customer, she didn't exist yet. [Fashion editor] Suzy Menkes wisely told me to return to India, build a brand and then come back on my terms. Now I only give clothes on consignment. I said, you give me the space, I'll decide the assortment. Everything started selling out. If people don't understand your work, or if people don't accept your work, just chill, and realise that it may take you five years, it could take you 25 years, but stay the path. In the decades since I first showed in New York, the clothes haven't changed, attitudes have. Initially you faced opposition in domestic and international market. In those days, my clothes became successful in India because people were scared of not being perceived as intellectuals. That was the chink in their armour; they had a lot of money but yearned for respect. Because the press wrote about me as an intellectual, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy: if I wear his clothes, I'll look like an intellectual. My clothes were bought without understanding whether they liked them or not; by buying Sabyasachi, they were buying culture. Eventually, people understood the merit of the clothes and started buying for their true value. Post-liberalisation, people were trying to see how we would sell our culture and the press wrote on everyone. You are arguably the biggest critical and commercial success of that time. Some customers bought my clothes because they genuinely liked them; others because of the optics. It made me realise you cannot base your brand on people's opinion; most of them have none. Consequently, criticism has never, never bothered me. The only time I was flustered was the Vidya Balan debacle at Cannes. I had styled her in a sari at a time when India only wanted to see glamorous, fashion-forward and modern style, which at the time meant western gowns. Young actors had burst onto the scene giving Indians their first taste of what the international Indian star could look like. Vidya looked beautiful, she did not necessarily look fashionable. But India wanted fashion, superstardom; India wanted to win. Even Aishwarya Rai was in a sari and criticised at the time. Now she's adored for it. It's time that determines perception. We have moved to a sense of nationalism now. There was a time when India wanted to be perceived as global. Now we want to celebrate national strength. It flusters me because I have never changed, I will never stop doing the sari for the red carpet. Even today my mandate with actresses on the red carpet is simple. I will make you an outfit if you wear a sari, because I'm an Indian designer. What do you think about India's relationship with luxury and its evolvement in the post-liberalisation and now post-influencer age? India has a troubled relationship with the West because of the way we were ruled. We felt we were second-, third-class citizens. Today, we feel not just a sense of belonging, but ownership. It translates visually into clothes, and a bit of political assertiveness through clothing is not such a bad thing. What has changed in India is our blind awe of western luxury. You are talking about post-globalisation disillusionment. Now it's post-globalised cynicism. The Indian customer is very smart. There's a misnomer that Indians shop cheap. Indians shop value. If you give them something expensive, and they see value in it, they'll buy. If you sell the same product in every single duty-free around the world and try to pass it off as rarefied luxury, it's not logical. How can you push a logical person to become illogical? You mean like Shah Rukh Khan is the last of the stars? What are stars? They are distant and they sparkle. The most important part of stardom is being inaccessible. Earlier, stars in this country had a veil, a purdah—you never got to see them. The stars only came out at night. Now, all day long, you see them on Instagram; some only exist there. Scarcity creates demand. You can't be available in 10,000 stores and say you are exclusive. Today people do not want to buy some of the most coveted bags in the world. I don't want to spend a lot of money buying a bag that 50 of my friends already have. Does it make me feel exclusive? Absolutely not. How can billion-dollar brands with international distribution be exclusive? If every important neighbourhood has one of your stores, you can't claim rarity. In many ways, luxury does not exist, only the marketed notion of luxury. Some say we will go back to bespoke, custom-made. There will be a price correction. Brands will realise that to retain the halo of luxury, they need to scale back. What really defines luxury is wanting something you don't have. And it makes luxury so relative, actually. It is relative, for some people, luxury is just confidence. So if you buy a product that gives you confidence—social, political, anything—that's luxury. Luxury has to make you feel good from within. You build a luxury brand by creating a great product, but also by creating a great philosophy of business. A brand I truly admire is Hermès. They have created a business by creating a culture. In Hermès, they will take all the time in the world to create a good product. Aesthetically you might differ from the product, but you can't fault the integrity of its creation. When you build the right culture, you build the right respect. People buy your product because they respect your integrity, since most people don't have it. We gravitate towards what we are not. We surround ourselves with things that complete us. My brand is respected in India because everybody panders to the rich here; we do not. We don't customise. I pay 100% tax. If you haven't earned your customers' respect, you have not built a luxury brand. Integrity makes a product sell. What people don't understand is the deeper insight into why a customer shops. They want to buy something that reflects who they are, their values or aspirations. It's like going to a detox centre where you're buying something to heal you from inside. I didn't understand my stardom for a long time. Early in my career, everybody wanted to talk to me about Bollywood. At that point, I made the actors wear Sabyasachi and they all said, 'Oh, Aishwarya looks so good in Cannes', and this and that. Then came Band Baajaa Bride and the big celebrity weddings. Many women came to me and said, 'When my daughter gets married, I want her to wear a Sabya .' Now the narrative has completely changed, everyone I meet, from all over the world, shares one thing with me: 'You make us so proud.' Are you saying product, integrity and creativity are different things? You can have creativity, and you can have a great product, but the most important thing that binds them together is integrity. Integrity is the biggest luxury in the world today because it is so rare. Sabyasachi was built on 25 years of integrity. And to hold your integrity for 25 years and not falter is a very tough thing. During the pandemic we were the first to shut, the last to open. Not a single person in my company got a pink slip. What did you do in that time? Did you create? Stayed at home. Paid salaries. I loved to cook. We had 80 buses going every day to pick up people and bring them to work. I did not allow a single person to come in public transport. We hired a cook for a year and turned the entire terrace into a restaurant. All the food was sanitised. We had a quarantine centre—if anybody had to leave, upon return they had to stay in quarantine for three days. When they were declared Covid-free, they were allowed back to work. You've dressed a lot of women. What do you think about women? Have they changed? I was raised by women—my two grandmothers, my mother, my mother's sister. I learned that women took unflinching responsibility. That men didn't. I wanted to design clothing. There was resistance. How can a man do a profession that's meant for ladies? So my relationship with women is not one of love, but of empathy. I think I understand women because I've experienced similar challenges. I think women make better women's wear designers. A man can only imagine what it is to be in a woman's body. Because of that liability, I constantly surround myself with women to get their point of view. I was not born beautiful. I'm an ordinary man. I don't look a certain way. My body is not a certain way. I struggled with my body and selfesteem. I've struggled in a world where a lot of people have a quicker right of way if they look a certain way. So I had to compensate for my lack of being beautiful with my cerebral strength. I have learnt from my own body as a man to feel that a woman will not feel her best every day. When you approach the human body and your customer through empathy and sensitivity, you'll want to make clothes that empower them to look their best even if they are not feeling their best. I don't make clothes that are difficult for women to live in. The best compliment I get: men tell me they love to see their wife in a Sabya. Many Sabyasachi purchases are family affairs. A very successful female CEO asked me to keep a sari aside and said, 'I want to come back with my husband and show it to him.' We all thought: she's such a powerful woman, can't she buy a sari by herself? So I asked politely, and she said, 'I'm buying a Sabya. He wants to participate.' If you were a designer's oracle, do you see a different market, a different Indian designer in the future? My generation has seen the maximum change: from LP to iPod, from landline to Nokia to iPhone and now we have landed at AI. We have moved from the age of information to the age of influence and now the age of intelligence. The next frontier will be moving from intelligence to wisdom. The most valuable commodity in the age of wisdom will be humanity. Any business that encapsulates the spirit of human beings will find future success. AI will make everything very efficient; but AI will also make everything homogenous. Your differentiator will be your legacy, your story, your product and your craft. Those without the backend of human craft will be pushed out. With AI, the mediocre brands will die. Brands that hold on to integrity and humanity will be the biggest brands. They might not be big in economic scale; but they will be the most important in terms of influence. India has a lot of scope for this. Humanity is here, craft is here, human skills are here. The government is talking about skill development. I will put forward one thing: Skill preservation. We also need to pay attention to human connections. People are suffering because human connections have become poor. It's loneliness. There was a big socialite who came to buy jewellery at the Mumbai store. She came six times, every time getting dressed up to see the jewellery and decide if she wanted to buy it. I felt maybe she came to the store because people would talk to her, because she was lonely. Perhaps she uses the idea of coming to the store as an excuse to be in touch with humanity.
Hindustan Times
7 days ago
- Hindustan Times
David Beckham awarded knighthood
David Beckham's knighthood is the culmination of years of tireless efforts to transcend football and turn himself into a global icon at the "intersection of sport, fashion and business." He had long dreamed of becoming a sir and King Charles III made it a reality when he announced his birthday's honours list on Friday, marking the end of a decades-long journey travelled with his Spice Girl wife Victoria, creator of the eponymous fashion brand. The honour, one of the highest bestowed by the UK state, "is a powerful symbolic marker", Marie Agnes Parmentier, professor of marketing at the University of Montreal and author of several papers on "Posh and Becks", explained to AFP. It "reinforces his image as a respectable, committed, and, first and foremost, British man," she added. The knighthood could present new opportunities for the 50-year-old former Manchester United and Real Madrid player, "particularly in diplomatic, charitable or political spheres", said Parmentier. The former free-kick ace, from a modest East London background, diversified his career after retiring from football in 2013, but success was the result of planning long before he hung up his boots. "I knew my career was going to end at some point and I wanted to have a career after football," he said in the documentary series "Beckham", which aired on Netflix in 2023. At the height of his football career, Beckham was signing deals with top clothing and beauty brands, building an audience that cut across gender, age and nationality -- becoming the first England player to crack the US market. The successful brand was built on his always immaculate appearance and nearly-always exemplary off-field behaviour, coupled with an unwavering drive to become a pioneer. This required a certain amount of courage, given that English football in the 1990s was generally the preserve of no-nonsense lads more interested in the pub than the catwalk. His appearance in a sarong during the 1998 World Cup, revelations that he used make-up, and his eccentric hairstyles were all feverishly gobbled up by the UK's tabloid press. Beckham is still capitalising on the fascination, almost 30 years later. He unveiled his first collection for Hugo Boss in April, is the founder of the Inter Miami football club and the "Studio 99" production company, and has been a UNICEF ambassador for 20 years. He is now best known not for football, "but for being Beckham, the brand", said sociologist Ellis Cashmore. It is a brand worth £500 million ($676 million), according to The Times newspaper's 2025 ranking. The Netflix show exposed the couple to an emerging younger audience, cementing their fame for the foreseeable future. Beckham "embodies a celebrity at the intersection of sport, fashion, entertainment and business," explained Parmentier. The couple's enduring visibility "is based on a sophisticated media strategy and an ability to embody universal values such as work, family and style," she added. But it has been a long and bumpy road, Cashmore pointed out. In 1998, Beckham was called the most hated man in England after he petulantly kicked out at Argentina's Diego Simeone during their World Cup round of 16 game. Beckham was harshly sent off and England lost to their bitter rivals in a penalty shoot-out. Those who had bitten their tongue about his off-field flamboyance gave full vent to their feelings. National headlines the next day included "10 Heroic Lions, One Stupid Boy" (Daily Mirror) and "You're Just A Joke Becks" (Daily Mail). Months of "hell" followed, with death threats, spitting and boos accompanying Beckham wherever he went. "Wherever I went I got abused, every single day," he said. "I find it hard to talk through what I went through because it was so extreme. The whole country hated me." But the ordeal only sharpened Beckham's focus. A year later, he finished second in the Ballon d'Or as he helped Manchester United claim an unprecedented treble, winning the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup. It was often said that Beckham's career seemed to be scripted by a movie writer, never more so than when the fallen idol took his revenge by scoring the winning goal against perennial rivals Argentina in the 2002 World Cup, redeeming his national hero status. The royal family were quick to embrace him, inviting Beckham to the weddings of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011 and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. Previous rumours of an impending knighthood came to nothing, but his star once again rose in 2022 after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. While other celebrities came under fire for skipping the queue to view her coffin, Beckham lined up with members of the public for almost 12 hours to pay his respects. Since then, it has seemed that "Sir David" was only a matter of time in coming.
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Time of India
Kyrgios confirms his breakup with influencer Costeen Hatzi, wishes her 'nothing, but the best'
Image via Instagram/ Costeen Hatzi At 30, Australian tennis maverick Nick Kyrgios is stepping off the court and into the spotlight—this time, revealing that his high-profile romance with influencer Costeen Hatzi has hit its final serve. In an intimate and candid fan Q&A session on Instagram, the Wimbledon finalist opened up about the details of his relationship and break-up, wishing his ex 'nothing but the best' and reminiscing on 'incredible memories.' Since pairing up in December 2021, after a 'mirror sale' ignited sparks between the attractive duo, Kyrgios and Hatzi captured headlines with their glow-up moments featured in Netflix's Break Point docuseries. But as whispers of a breakup swirled online from April, fans have been desperate for confirmation. Now, Kyrgios has officially broken his silence—with humor, grace, and a newly shaven head to boot. What caused the 'trouble in paradise' for Kyrgios? Nick Kyrgios speaks out on breakup from influencer girlfriend Costeen Hatzi Kyrgios's confession came during an Instagram 'ask me anything,' where he was prompted by his fans about the buzz surrounding their breakup. Kyrgios, while 'not holding back' anything, candidly confessed that: 'Things happen. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Simple. Clean. Solitaire Play Solitaire Download Undo I wish her nothing but the best,' he quipped, adding that though their relationship is over, the memories are 'incredible.') He also celebrated turning 30 with a bald look (both head and tone: 'unreal'), insisting he's 'not even in [his] prime yet'. (via Their relationship began behind the mirrored lens of Instagram: Hatzi, selling a mirror, asked Kyrgios if he wanted to buy it—and love was instant. Their romance flourished as they moved in together in 2022 and even fueling engagement rumors, including Kyrgios joking 'Our wedding soon' on a public photo in early 2023 released on social media. Yet by April, clear signals emerged: both removed each other's initials from their Instagram bios, and Hatzi dropped cryptic TikToks referencing marital tensions. Hatzi later spoke positively about life post-split—highlighting her resilience and brand-work, even attending a major event in Sydney and supporting ovarian cancer research. Meanwhile, Kyrgios is juggling more than romantic headlines: plagued by injuries that sidelined him from the French Open and Wimbledon, he's also lost commentary gigs with BBC and ESPN. Still, his spirit remains unbroken—and he's vowed that this chapter is just the tip of his prime. Kyrgios's heartfelt yet playful statement marks a turning point—respectful closure with a wink to the future. As both he and Hatzi shift gears, fans can expect fresh chapters ahead: Kyrgios possibly aiming for tennis glory and personal reinvention at 30, and Hatzi blazing her own trail in the influencer world. While break-ups may sting for most couples, these two leave their fans lessons on how to part with grace and dignity.
