The Summer Dilemma

                    From ages 13-18, the word “summer” has a magical connotation. Being out of school for three months gives you the chance to reinvent yourself, find summer love, and frolic with your friends who share your majestic summer sentiment. Maybe you have a job to earn some extra cash, but your main priority is meeting boys on the boardwalk.

                    But summers in college are different. This is when summers stop being polite and start getting real. (Or maybe that’s the Real World tagline, but it’s applicable nonetheless.) Summers are no longer the time to make bracelets and tan on your front lawn all day.

                    Instead, it’s time to “make moves” regarding your life. But in terms of making said moves, there are multiple options. From my observations, there are three respectable and effective ways of spending your college summers. They are as follows:

1. Interning

Every person with any remote professional knowledge will tell you the same thing about internships; do them. In the past, internships were more of an optional career step. Today, they are basically necessary. In order to find a job post-grad, most professions and companies require internship experience. Even though the word “internship” is often a euphemism for “bitch work,” having one is an integral part of one’s professional career. It is at these often-undesirable-and-unpaid internships that students gain valuable experience and priceless networking opportunities. From what I have seen, the majority of internships are not paid. In general, the only interns that are paid are those in the science or engineering field. That leaves us non-science people broke. However, interning is often regarded as “paying your dues,” and will put you at an advantage among competitors once you enter the real world (not to be confused with the aforementioned Real World).

Girls' Hannah finally gets the nerve to ask for a paid position at her internship and promptly gets fired.

2. Having an actual paying job

Unless you’re an engineer, while internships add immeasurable value to your résumé, they just don’t cut it when it comes to bringing home the bacon. Most college students don’t work during the school year. It is very difficult to balance classes, homework, extracurricular activities, AND a job when school is in session. This means many students, including me, rely on El Banco de Los Padres (also known as mommy and daddy’s wallet). Mom and Dad provide enough money for students to eat and survive, but they usually don’t dish out extra funds for shopping or concert tickets. This means that summer is the time to rake up some funds to add to your ever-dwindling savings account. Even though this may mean taking a dull or degrading job such as an office assistant or a mascot at an amusement park, it is worth it to save up some money for the coming school year. You’ll be thanking yourself when all of your friends are eating Ramen and you are ordering some new clothes from Forever21.com.

3. Taking a summer class

Summer is the perfect time to get ahead in credits. Even if you are perfectly on track when it comes to classes, it is nice to have some extra credits. This often allows you to register for classes earlier and gives you the option to take fewer credits during the school year. Also, since many summer classes are taken at community colleges, the classes are often easier than they would be at school. If there is a class you have been dreading taking at school and there is a community college equivalent, I would highly recommend you take it over the summer. Also, summer classes typically only require a “C” or above to gain credit and most often do not affect your GPA. This allows you to be more relaxed towards the class than you would be on campus. While summer classes may not seem ideal at the time, the 3-6 hours a week will help you out in the long run.

                    Even though there are three suitable and feasible ways to spend the summer, this creates something I have dubbed “The Summer Dilemma.” Ideally, I would do all three. I would have an internship to gain experience and to put on my résumé, I would have a job to make the money I so desperately need, and I would get Accounting out of the way at the community college by my house. But how am I supposed to do all three at the same time? When it comes to my summer, I have come to accept that I am only human. There is simply not enough time to intern, have a job, and take a class. I have decided to focus on my awesome internship and occasionally babysit so my bank account balance is no longer negative. Even though I would like to take a class as well, I want to maintain some of that summer magic. I want to be able to go to the beach for long weekends, waste time tanning with my friends, and going on aimless iced coffee runs. After all, I am not yet a full-blown “real person” and I think I have a few more magical summers in me. 

Nothing beats this.
Margate City, NJ