We all know that summer internships are a good thing for college students. They help you find future jobs, gain work experience, and develop important connections. Great. So what do you do if you don’t have a summer internship? How can you stop your parents from worrying about you and your future, if you don’t have an internship???
Have no fear, here is a list of some stellar ideas to get you “out and about” as my parents like to say.
Get a job.
Working in the summer isn’t the best, but if you find the right job it can actually be pretty fun! Find a job that is related to one of your interests, and employs people you could see yourself being friends with. Some examples…
- Restaurant job – Keeps you busy and generally employs younger people.
- Camp Counselor – This job barely seems like work and you get to spend the summer playing games.
- Lifeguard – Lifeguarding may not be super interesting all the time, but if you’re on a beach you can work on that tan while getting paid.
- Babysitting – If you like kids, this is the way to go with an excuse to relive your favourite childhood activities as well as flexible hours.
Focus on Hobbies.
Whether this means continuing a hobby you didn’t have time for during school, or finding a new one, hobbies can be great for keeping you busy. During school there is barely enough time for sleep, let alone doing something that doesn’t relate even a little bit to school. THIS IS THE TIME FOR THAT! Here are some ideas for summer hobbies…
- Drawing – You don’t have to be good at it, it just needs to make you happy.
- Scrapbooking – I know this may sound like something for classy older women, but scrapbooking can actually be very therapeutic and it’s a great way to save some of your favorite memories.
- Journaling – Journaling can also mean simply writing down your experiences void of emotion, keeping track of your awesome summer, or even writing poetry and short stories.
Learn a new skill.
Learning new stuff is super fun! Or at least it can be if you’re actually interested in it. For example, I hate math. I’m not good at math, I don’t understand it, I just really don’t like it. But I do love music, so learning a new instrument seems really cool to me! Find that thing you think is really cool and you’ll have a “productive” summer (whatever that means). Here are some ideas of popular things to learn about…
- Instruments – Find a teacher nearby or even a youtube channel that can teach you about an instrument you like.
- Photography – This is a great new skill you can improve on your own with minimal cost. I assume you have a phone, I assume you’ve heard of the internet. Try researching some ways to take better pictures using your phone and go explore!
- Take a class – What? More school?? Yes, sometimes taking classes over the summer can be a really great use of time. If you have a local university nearby, look into some of the classes they offer and see if any interest you or would help you during the school year. Taking one or two classes is very different than taking four or five, and could actually turn out to be a lot of fun!
The moral of the story here is that there are lots of way to be productive and have a good summer without an internship. Go have fun this summer and if you feel like it, look into internships next year!