If you had asked me at the beginning of the summer what I thought my summer would be like, I probably would have described an office with a cute business-casual outfit, a laptop covered in stickers, and maybe a coffee in my hand for dramatic effect. Instead, I spent much of the summer wondering why I didn’t have a summer internship.
Every time I opened LinkedIn, it felt like someone else was announcing their new role. “So excited to announce that I’ll be spending summer at XYZ Company!” Then came the office tours, intern events, networking opportunities, and “day in my life as a summer intern” videos.
Meanwhile, I was sitting there thinking, wait, am I doing something wrong?
It became really easy to compare my summer to everyone else’s. I started feeling like I was falling behind before I even figured out where I wanted to go. I convinced myself that everyone else was building their careers while I was wasting time. And honestly? That feeling followed me for a while.
I was measuring my summer against a version of success that I didn’t even create for myself.
But eventually, I started realizing that I was measuring my summer against a version of success that I didn’t even create for myself. I did not spend my summer commuting to an office or attending intern happy hours. I didn’t have a corporate badge hanging around my neck or a “Summer 2026 Intern” LinkedIn headline.
But what I did have was time.
Time to be with my family. Time to slow down before another hectic school year begins. Time to think about what I actually want from my career instead of constantly worrying about what looks impressive on a resume.
And I still did things that mattered to me. I started taking summer journalism classes, which have helped build my writing portfolio and skillset, and became a National Writer for Her Campus. None of those things came with a fancy office tour or a professional headshot, but they still counted.
I think some college students can fall into this mindset where every summer has to be productive in a very specific way. You need the internship. You need the experience. You need the impressive company name. You need to be able to post about it before the summer starts. I can’t even blame college students for thinking this way. When we’re constantly surrounded by people posting their accomplishments and being told that every summer needs to “count,” it’s hard not to feel like we’re falling behind when ours doesn’t look the same.
What if your summer just looks… different?
But what if you’re not? What if your summer just looks… different?
For me, this summer reminded me that my life doesn’t have to move at the same pace as everyone else’s. I can be ambitious and still rest. I can care about my career and still spend an afternoon with my family. I can want a great internship someday without deciding that not having one right now makes me unsuccessful.
Do I still want the “perfect” summer internship someday? Absolutely. I’m not suddenly going to pretend I wouldn’t want to spend a summer learning at a company I admire. But I’ve also made peace with the fact that it wasn’t this summer. And maybe that’s the lesson I needed.
I didn’t waste my summer — I lived it. I grew as a writer. I spent time with the people I love. I learned more about what I want. I gave myself room to breathe before jumping back into another busy school year.
Maybe I didn’t have the summer I wanted. But looking back, I had the summer I actually needed.