It seemed that everyone and their mother had an internship this summer…except for me. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it’s not as abnormal as many of us think! In fact, many collegiates every summer are faced with the daunting question of: do I intern or do I work?
For some, it’s our major that leads us to an internship. For others, it’s job experience, financial gain, or maybe it’s because you can’t stand the place you’ve worked at since high school. But for others, deciding whether or not to do an internship rather than work is a question whose answer is not as simple as we would like it to be. From finances, location, even personal preference, deciding whether or not to take an internship or to work full time can cause some major anxiety.
I wanted to make this post to disprove the potential stigma around those of us who chose not to intern. I mean, isn’t it expected us collegiates start finding our internships by the time we become juniors? So why is it that I chose to work full-time instead of intern? Honestly, finding the right internship is not easy work! For myself, finding an internship that brought together my major and my hobbies were a daunting task in and of itself. From this, I’ve learned that the most important aspect is is to figure out a way to combine your interests with passion, and this is where many of us hit a major roadblock. But this is where I made the decision to hold off on interning. Rather than having the burden, and stress, that comes with working in a corporate setting, I decided to stay at my familiar job, work at a place I enjoyed, and still have time at the end of the day to enjoy my hobbies.
Whatever your reason for not interning this summer, or not working and choosing to intern, stand by it! Don’t feel pressured to have your entire life planned out and do not feel that one summer you don’t work or don’t intern is going to ruin your academic career. Trust me, it’s not the end of the world.