What is Discover summer academemy?

The Discover Summer Academy is a self-development summer holiday program for high school students from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and around the world. It is a week spent in nature, during which you can discover what excites you and find the direction you want to take after high school. At Discover, you can explore dozens of different fields and gain inspiration from lecturers with diverse life, academic, and career experiences.

The Discover Summer Academy program consists of courses, workshops, group discussions, sports and creative activities, team games, and trips into nature. It also includes special activities such as the Life Opportunities Fair, Night Behind the Curtain, or Contemplation, where we discuss personal experiences, careers, studies, extracurricular activities, mental health, relationships, failures, and various philosophical questions.

The academy’s program is designed to give students the opportunity to get to know themselves and meet like-minded peers who strive for the same goal – to find themselves and fully realize their potential.

PROGRAMME

COURSES

The courses offered at Discover by our lecturers are conducted in an informal and interactive way. Their goal is to provide students with insight into various fields through either highly specialized or broader interdisciplinary courses.

Students can choose from dozens of courses that differ from standard high school subjects and are led by young lecturers from fields such as:

  • STEM (artificial intelligence, maths, medicine, neurobiology)
  • Social sciences (the economics of decarbonisation, positive psychology, human rights protection in practice)
  • Practical courses (photography, yoga and meditation, first aid)
  • Humanities (law and ethics, history) 
  • Arts (sustainable design, architecture)

OTHER ACTIVITIES

The Discover Summer Academy offers much more than just a variety of courses – it is built on principles of open discussion, equal relationships between students and lecturers, and the promotion of critical thinking. The program is based on a holistic and experiential approach to education and self-development, allowing students to explore various life, personal, academic, and career topics. Every student at Discover has the chance to find, as we say, their own “inner fire.”

  • The Night Behind the Curtain is a traditional activity that helps to destigmatise the topic of mental health and brings tutors/organisers and students closer together.
  • The Life Fair offers the opportunity for all students to go up to tutors and organisers and discuss almost any topics they have a common interest in, from studying abroad to choosing a major through low-cost travel or meditation. 
  • The Experience Game introduces students to the complexities of life in life-sized simulations where they take on different roles, and experience first-hand how the world can work. 

  • The workshops are as diverse as the community itself. Examples: Engaged art, Improvisational theatre, Swing, Magic, Budget travel, Selected psychological topics (e.g. mindset, stress management, giftedness…), Flowers, Development and humanitarian aid in practice, What can you do for the climate?, Medical studies, Beekeeping, Ballet for everyone, Hitchhiking across Europe, Slackline, Crash course on the Western Balkans, Studying abroad, Analog photography, Climbing, Cold exposure (without water), Environmental psychology, Basics of conducting an empathetic conversation, and more.