Alicia Thomas

Despite the amount of internship applications you sent out and your outstanding efforts to find something (anything!) to do with your summer, it’s time to face the truth: you’ll be staying home until school starts up again in the fall. Although you may feel frustrated, Her Campus is here to let you know that it’s not the end of the world—and why being home for the summer is actually pretty awesome.

1. It’s less expensive

If you were taking an internship for school credit, chances are that you wouldn’t be getting paid; in fact, on top of not receiving compensation, you’d actually be paying for the school credits you’d earn from that internship. That means you’d be in the red from the start… especially when you factor in the cost of housing, food, and living expenses in general. And even if you were lucky enough to score a paid internship, you’ll still have to pay those living expenses! While living in your parents’ house may make you feel like you’re in high school again, at least you’ll be saving money. Since you probably don’t have to pay rent or cover the costs of food and utilities, you’ll be saving loads of money just by settling down in your old bedroom until the start of the fall semester.

2. You can relax

Preparing for life after graduation can be nerve-wracking. Where will you live? How are you going to get a job? And what on earth are you going to do between now and then? It’s normal to wish that you had someone to point you in the right direction as you make all of these life-altering career decisions. Luckily, such a person exists!

The Transportation Security Administration, or the TSA, is looking for college graduates to fill jobs in airport security, law enforcement, and management positions. But they’re not just looking to offer you a stable government job with competitive pay and benefits—they offer Career Coaching services as well to help you further your career progress.

The TSA has a full staff of professional Career Coaches with credentials ranging from Master Career Counselor to Licensed Psychiatrist to Doctor of Philosophy. These coaches assist TSA employees in discovering their potential and working to the best of their abilities. Their whole purpose is to enable you to compete more successfully for jobs.

The semester is winding down, but this isn’t just any semester—it’s your final semester. You and your boyfriend bought your caps and gowns, and you’re ready to graduate!  The problem is, you’ll be grabbing your diplomas and walking off stage in totally different directions—you’re moving to different cities. Here’s a guide on how to know if you should stay together, what to expect once you part, and how to make it work.   

Should you stay together?

The first thing to note is that there is no time requirement. You don’t need to have been in a relationship for the entirety of your college years to justify staying together once you graduate!

Katie*, a 2010 graduate of Boston University, said she and her boyfriend hadn’t been together that long when they chose to make their relationship work after graduation. “We had started dating the summer before senior year, so we hadn’t been dating for years and years like some couples,” Katie says. “But we didn’t really think about breaking up.”

The second factor is being confident enough in your relationship to know that you can handle some temporary time in different places to pursue your ambitions. Katie’s boyfriend stayed in Boston to go to med school after graduation, while Katie followed her career in the media to New York City.

“I think the whole idea was to proceed with our lives knowing we’d just be in other cities, and understanding we’d both be busy with our new lives (mine in New York and his in med school),” Katie says. “If it became too difficult, we’d address it then.”

After working your butt off for months on end, you finally scored your dream internship for the summer! You’ve followed the appropriate steps after accepting your internship, figured out where to live, and even learned the truth about common internship myths. All that’s left on your summer internship to-do list? Figuring out what to wear!

While your style should still reflect your personality, there are a few key pieces that every collegiette should have going into their summer internship to look polished and professional!

A Professional Purse

While your hot pink clutch with gold accents might be perfect for nights out on the town, it’s not exactly office-appropriate. Go for something in neutral colors that can class up any outfit, but beyond that, make sure your bag is functional, too.

“It should be the kind of bag that goes with everything, so that if you have to look more professional one day, it will go with that outfit, but if you dress down some days, it should go with that, too,” said Colette Rodger, Manager of Internships at Penn State. “You want the kind of purse that you can wear with anything and everything, and you want it to be big enough to hold whatever you may potentially need throughout your day on the job.”

“Being an intern is sometimes comparable to being Mary Poppins,” said Kelsey Mulvey, a junior at Boston University. “You have your phone, wallet, ‘walking shoes,’ iPad for the commute to your internship... the list goes on! Just make sure you pick a bag that is sturdy and has a lot of compartments (so you can keep yourself organized).”