What are your plans for this summer? They may be studying abroad, an internship or just basking in the sunshine everyday (yeah, we all wish…). Many people may choose to spend their summer at their new home away from home with the friends they’ve met over the year at college. If you’re thinking about calling Columbia, Missouri your summer retreat like I did last year, here are some things to consider.
Why to Stay at School for the Summer:
Summer School: Last year I was able to get a couple classes out of the way. Summer classes usually pack a whole semester into four weeks (depending on the class). This means you’ll learn about a week’s worth of material each day of class. It can also mean you will receive fewer projects, tests and quizzes than what the professor is able to give during a full normal semester course. You’ll thank yourself for taking classes over the summer when you have the option of taking fewer credit hours during the year.
No Parents, No Problem: If you are planning to stay the summer after your freshman year of college like I did, you have become accustomed to your own set of rules. Your parents weren’t there to give you a curfew or tell you what you could or couldn’t do. The same goes for over the summer. Last summer was one of the most fun summers ever for me! You have the work hard, play hard mentality that you’ve had in place since the school year, plus the summer heat expands your options of places to socialize beyond house parties to pools or bonfires as well.
Save Money: Mizzou makes it relatively simple for out-of-state students to obtain in-state tuition. If you work over the summer and make $2,000, register to vote in Missouri, have proof that you’ve lived in Missouri for a year and get a Missouri drivers license, you can apply for in-state tuition in the fall. The relatively simple process can save out-of-staters more than $10,000 a year.
Why to Go Home for the Summer:
Home is Where the Heart is: Especially if you just finished your freshman year, chances are you still keep in touch with your friends from home. As much fun as I was having with my friends at Mizzou last summer, there were times when I would talk to my friends from home or see pictures of them all having a good time together and feel left out. If you do stay at school over the summer, I would advise you make time for a couple trips back home at some point.
Take a Break: You’ve lived in Columbia essentially from August to May. Staying the summer means living here from August to August in a constant loop of one school year to the next. Sometimes I don’t even feel like this is my sophomore year, but rather a continuation of freshman year.
Instate is not Guaranteed: Toward the end of my freshman year, I began to apply for summer jobs in Columbia around spring break. I applied to about ten places, which seemed to be the average for my friends that stayed the summer too. I was unlucky. The job I got was at a retail store in the mall, only giving me one or two shifts per week. Most part-time jobs pay workers the state’s minimum wage, $7.25. Working six hours each week at a rate of $7.25 per hour doesn’t add up to $2,000 for the summer. I ended up quitting that job because I knew I wasn’t going to make in-state tuition even if I worked there the whole summer. Be careful when you are applying for jobs and discuss your goal of earning $2,000 with a person in charge to see if this is obtainable at that place of work.
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