One month from now, I will be done with technically my fourth full year of college. That seems insane! May 10th is my last final and then it’s off to summer break!
Summer break used to mean lounging at home, playing video games or watching Netflix. It meant sleeping in and working on my own personal interests. Sadly, though, once I began college, those summers were over. The summer after my junior year of high school, I took two classes at community college and one class online through my high school system. The next summer, I was prepping for the upcoming semester and going on my last vacation. Then, I got to university and began mapping out my graduation.
I decided to take two classes last summer, which was honestly one of the best ideas I’ve had in a long time. I finished one course in 4 weeks and one course in 8 weeks. That’s it! No waiting around for exams and busy work, just studying and being tested on it quickly. I got my statistics and accounting classes out of the way and didn’t have to worry about overloading my fall or spring semesters!
You would think that I would have planned to take classes this summer, then. Nope. I planned to get a summer internship or job. My major requires roughly 150 hours of an internship or job to graduate. That’s right; before I even get a degree and go job searching, I have to convince someone to hire me just so I can screw up a lot and maybe learn something. So, I spent hours upon hours applying to positions. I even had a few great leads! I applied for a position at a museum and for a position working with underprivileged communities to alleviate hunger. Those were my top two choices, but I would’ve taken just about anything to fill that requirement.
You know how many offers I got from all of that hard work? Zero.
I’ve spent all semester reading rejection emails. I actually just got another one 48 minutes ago. It has made me so irritated and frustrated, especially because so many of these employers told me that I was a great candidate and asset to the team due to my experience with minority populations. Every rejection has worn me down just a bit more. I was so hopeful for the last internship that ended in rejection, so yesterday I just took a personal day. These are some of the things that I’ve ended up doing to handle this process.
1. Know that it’s okay to be upset. I took a day of wallowing in self-doubt and sadness. Honestly, letting it out and accepting those emotions made me feel much better than ignoring everything and trying to push forward.
2. Consider your other options. I’ve decided to take classes this summer, or self-teach three with MIT OpenCourseware (which I highly recommend) to then test out of for credit. That will alleviate some of the stress on my last three semesters and allow me to keep my mind active during the break.
3. Think about taking up a personal project. This website is my personal project and I plan to work a lot on this over the summer. I hope to one day monetize this blog, so I need to figure out how exactly to get that done!
4. Find some support. Margaret and Ayush have been crucial to me throughout this process. They’ve both helped to keep me grounded and focused, despite how demoralizing this process has been.
5. Don’t stop trying. I’m still applying to positions! I don’t really think that I’ll get anything, consider there is so little time left before this semester.
6. Look into a fall/spring internship or job. My university has begun posting open positions for next school year, so I’m hopping on board with those applications before other people notice! Maybe I can head off any more internship rejections.
7. Don’t be afraid to take a break. Having a summer off may sound boring or like a waste of time, but mentally recharging and reevaluating how you feel are very important actions. Maybe use your new free time to work on your fitness or to take up meditation!
I know that it’s hard to stay motivated in the face of rejection, especially at the end of the spring semester, with summer in sight. You’ll get through it. Just breathe and take care of yourself.