It’s about that time isn’t it? As the cold, wet weather of winter sets in, as the happy thoughts of turkey distract you from the paper that is due tomorrow and most importantly, as Starbucks introduces its seasonal holiday cups—you know it is that time of year.
Nope, not the time to make your Christmas lists and New Year’s plans, but the time for overzealous Duke students to start planning for the summer that is seven months away.
As my brief stint in the Girl Scouts taught me though, it is good to be prepared, so as an ode to Shelia, my Brownies leader, instead of mocking the prematurity of already planning for summer, I’d like to offer you some wisdom about how to best approach the issue.
You might be asking yourself (or more likely, your parents are asking you) should I study abroad? Should I do DukeEngage? Should I stay in Durham (and develop a more meaningful relationship with the Shooters staff)? Should I get an internship? Should I go home and wait tables and hang with friends from high school?
First you should know, although it is OK to start thinking about what you will do next summer, it is way too early to start stressing about it. So if the ambiguity of your summer plans is already causing you great anxiety, then relax. Take 10 deep breaths, count to 100, have a shot of tequila and then come back to the table.
Secondly, use your summers productively. That does not mean you have to cure cancer, end genocide and eradicate poverty by Labor Day, but don’t waste away your summer. In particular, I’m talking to you freshmen. It’s OK to go back home and hang out with old friends from high school. But also try and figure out something productive to do. Work in your congressman’s office, volunteer in a clinic, write a screenplay—do something.
Although I encourage you to be engaged with society, be advised that internships are overrated, particularly unpaid ones. No matter how interested you think you are in the work of a certain company, nine times out of 10, it is insignificant what a company does—particularly if you are working in the private sector. Although it might seem cool to work at a big prominent organization that everyone has heard of, it’s not. You are better off working at a small, no name boutique firm where the company has a vested interest in you.
Regardless of how small the company, and how committed you think you are in the mission of the organization though, I guarantee you will still find it impossible to shake the student mentality—do as little work as possible, invest as little time and effort as you can in order to produce the minimum quality of work, without getting in trouble—nobody is bigger than the game my friend.
Internships, however, are valuable for two reasons. Number one, they help you figure out what you don’t want to do. And secondly, they give you real life practice navigating “office politics.” And although this might not seem so important, consider a friend of mine who never did an office internship during college and has found himself almost fired twice in 18 months for misunderstanding the office hierarchy and the relative importance of people in H.R. Whoops.
If you can avoid working in an office this summer though, which I would advise, studying abroad or doing DukeEngage are certainly the best options. There is nothing like getting out of the comfort zone of Duke or your hometowns and interacting with the world. Go meet people who don’t know what Duke University is and more importantly, don’t care.
If you are concerned that traveling wont help you get a job after graduation you are wrong. Employers want to see that you can handle challenging situations, that you are flexible and that you can work with a diverse group of people. Where better to work on those skills than in the Amazon, the Yangtze Riverbed, Antarctica or the moon.
Staying in Durham and taking classes, I would argue, is a less than ideal option. As wonderful as Duke is, summer is an opportunity to do something else. Even if you need to take classes, perhaps take them at Carolina, or one of the other 2,000 universities in the United States.
Remember that what you learn in college outside the classroom is just as important, if not more important, than what you learn inside the classroom. Therefore, use your time, and summers in particular, to rack up as many diverse and unique experiences as possible. So when you graduate and go into the real world, although you might be unemployed, at least you’ll have good stories.
Steffi Decker is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Wednesday.