During the summer many people only have one job that they work about 40-50 hours a week at. They’re also probably able to spend as much time with their friends as they want. I only wish that my summer could have been that easy. While I anticipated only having one job and taking summer classes, I ended up with two jobs, an internship, and two summer classes. I thought for sure I wasn’t going to have time for a social life in any way, shape, or form until I learned how to balance all of those things while still having the summer of my life.
While I was fortunate enough to have my second job working for my parents, they still expected me to come in from time to time in order to make sure I was still learning new skills and helping with as much as I possibly could. Having my parents as my bosses made life a little bit easier because I would be working about 40 hours a week at Caribou all while working extra hours to train for my promotion. Where it got tricky, though, was having to figure out what would work for me and what wouldn’t. I needed to make sure that I was getting homework done for my summer classes and I also had the set days that I worked my internship.
The first step to this madness was to make sure that I had an area of availability that gave me at least two days a week to hang out with friends or just work at one job instead of both; if I was too exhausted I wouldn’t be able to get anything done. The next step was to make sure that I wrote down what homework I had, when it was due, and which day I was going to get it done. This ensured that I didn’t fall behind on my homework; it was set in stone. Last was to make sure that I was fitting in time to take a vacation. I know the last one wasn’t necessary, but for my sanity and for the sake of having one of the best summers of my life, I made sure that I took a vacation. This year it ended up being Summerfest.
Once I put everything together, I was working 30-35 hours a week, working my internship for 6 hours a week, and being able to get my homework done in a timely manner. I don’t know how I made time for everything that I did, but sometimes it just takes a little motivation and learning how to schedule everything accordingly for yourself. I’m not going to lie; there were times that I was frustrated and exhausted, but above all else I was happy. I was making money, learning new skills (in my job and in my internship), and I even took a vacation. Sometimes we have to take a risk to find what works for us, but in the end I can promise you it’s worth it.