Summer. Everyone's favorite time of the year. (Well, mine at least.) Every year a college student faces a conundrum of what to spend the summer doing. Here are a few options for those of you that are curious:
1. Lay around at home, play video games, watch movies, hang out with friends. This is considered by many to be the best way to spend your summer, but you won't make any money, and it won't do anything to benefit you in the future.
2. Work a fun summer job, such as a camp counselor. I have done this for two summers, and I can tell you, it's an amazing experience. Of course, as an engineering major, I learned more from the flight down than I did the entire summer about my major, but I had a great time and grew closer to God. Also, I made a small amount of money.
3. Go to Alaska, learn to speak Spanish, and ride grizzly bears all summer. This route will almost guarantee that you will be a social outcast and have no friends for the rest of your life. Not recommended. (However, if you learn to ride a grizzly bear, I'd love some pointers!)
4. Find a summer internship in the field you're planning to work in. This not only gives you valuable experience, but can pay quite nicely too, and fill up those hot summer days which you would have spent sleeping in until 3:30 pm and then eating cold pizza for "breakfast."
My choice this summer was the internship. I could write quite a bit about the experience, but I'll just hit the high points, such as my own cubicle! (Picture below)
A. Getting the job: This was a frenzy of activity. I called, called back, went in in person, emailed, applied online, and talked to so many people that I began to think I'd never find an internship. I had been searching since last November, and June came around, and there was still absolutely nothing. So I kept going and went into overdrive. I spent hours every day for about 3 weeks searching for one. One day I ended up coming in to a place called Interface Engineering in downtown Sacramento, not for a job interview, but just to talk about engineering and what it's like working at an engineering firm. We talked for a good half hour, and parted ways with him saying he really had no plans to hire an intern. So I went home, and applied to In-N-Out Burger. (While I was not contacted by In-N-Out, I am still a massive fan and can take down a 4x4 and animal fries at a moment's notice.) About a week later, I got a call from the man I'd talked with. He said he'd like to hire me, and that I could work 40 hours a week and be paid almost double minimum wage. I'm pretty sure I heard that voice in my head saying in a game show-like voice, "We have a winner!" I quickly accepted, and that's how I landed the job. And on my first day of work, I filled out a job application for a job I was already hired for. That's a first.
B. Biking to Work. Yes, I biked 15 miles to work at 6:45 am every day and 15 miles back home. But this post is getting a bit lengthy, so I'll get to that next time. Oh my biking adventures...You're in for a treat! :P
