Volunteering, Internships, and Jobs

One of the biggest things that I can tell you is that experience is in high demand and hard to get. One of the best things you can do to prepare yourself for life after college is to find an internship each summer. Each internship will provide different experiences and insight into different careers; they will open different opportunities for you. You will meet new people and learn so much about yourself and about the career you may go into one day.

But internships can be extremely competitive. How do you even get your foot in the door in the first place? Internships will often look at grades, but having good grades will not set you apart on paper. It is a good idea to volunteer in a similar capacity to an internship or job that you might want. For example, if you want an animal care internship at a zoo, it might be a good idea to first get some experience by volunteering at a local Wildlife Rescue.

A lot of students need jobs while in college. Since it is important to focus on school (like I said before, that's why you're in college in the first place), getting an on-campus job is often the best thing you can do for yourself. On campus jobs are typically more understanding that you are a student first and an employee second. They are usually more flexible with your work schedule, often building it around your class schedule. Not all campus jobs are created equally, I have a friend who worked in a campus job where she was not allowed to study even if she had finished all of her assigned tasks. Some campus jobs are okay with students studying if they've gotten all of their work done or are waiting for a customer to show up. Plus if you work on campus, you won't have to commute to your job - you'll already be there. Finally, some schools have limitations on how many hours a student can work during the week and that is a very good thing. For instance, at Texas State student employees are NOT allowed to work more than 25 hours each week.

If you can't find an internship during the summer, try to find some sort of job. You never know what kind of opportunities will be available to you just because you had a summer job. I worked over a year in a customer service centered workplace, and currently I am at an internship at a state park. I believe that one of the things that helped me to get the internship was my customer service experience because, in state parks, you have to know how to work with people, no matter what you are doing. Customer service is applicable to almost all careers. I have loved my internship and I am sad that it is going to be over soon. I have gained so much experience, had tons of cool opportunities, worked in a variety of capacities, and met many interesting people. My internship has opened my eyes to things that I never even considered would be a part of working for state parks. I have done so much this summer that I would never have done had I not gotten this internship.

Plus, internships are offered in almost any place and in pretty much in any field. I think I really needed a change of scenery and I was able to get it this summer through my internship. I am used to living in the humid, mostly flat but somewhat hilly (when you get into the hill country) part of central Texas. But this summer, I have spent my time in the mountains. You can see all sorts of stars out here. It gets cold at night. I'm approximately a mile up. The wildlife and the landscape was completely different and I think the change of scenery has been extremely restorative for me. Sometimes, you just need to get away and an internship can be a great way to do it!

Do yourself a favor, get an internship every summer that you can. You won't regret it.