Alright, so we all know you either —
A) Didn’t get an internship
OR
B) Didn’t apply for internships
OR
C) Are applying last minute
Even if you fall into category C, you still need to fill your summer up with something to do, just in case it doesn’t work out right? What are your options? Well, surprisingly enough, you may not have to be stuck at home doing nothing for the next three months if you substitute an internship with any of the following.
Take classes at your local community college
If your major allows you to get ahead with classes or if there is a subject you want to learn more about, take a class or two over the summer! It forces you to be productive, and if you can take it online, you can even go at your own pace. If you can, take a course during the summer that is especially difficult at your university; it can release the weight of a full workload during the school year.
Start a Blog
The one thing that is nice about writing about your life on the internet is that it forces you to explore and try new things in order to create new content to write about. If you keep a regular schedule on when you post, you may find that by the end of the summer you have a collection of memories recorded.
Lastly, Get a Job
Yes, I know, getting a job over the summer is definitely the obvious thing to do when the internship hunt does not work out. However, for those of you who don’t take regular summer jobs with scheduled hours and just do stuff on the side such as babysitting and lawn mowing, having a job is a good way to use up free time and make money at the same time.
These are just a few of the alternatives to interning over the summer and hopefully will give you some ideas on how you want to spend your time. Even though you may not have the experience you were looking for, your time does not have to go to absolute waste.
It is always better to substitute your activities if you didn’t get an internship. Future employers will see that you stayed busy, and that is always better than doing nothing at all. Plus, exaggerating any skills or experience on a resume is easy, so long as you have something to work with. Keep positive and make the most of whatever it is you end up doing this summer!