Is it absolutely necessary for a student to stay active during the summer?

[emeraldkity4]

Most school expect students to earn money summers to contribute to their college expenses.
Yes there is something to be said for vacations, but if you don't earn money in the summer, that is more money that you will have to come up with another way.

It is your choice whether to fund that cost by taking out loans ( & paying interest) or taking responsibilty for your expenses by earning some of the money up front.

[gsmomma]

I hire new college graduates, and definitely prefer to see ones that did some type of work in the summers, then nothing meaningful.

My D completed her freshman year and is working full time at a resident camp this summer. Camp does not start until mid-June, so she is planning on working part time as a subsitute teacher. She knows that next year she will need to look for a 'real job' for the summer, but she can always do camp if she is unable to find something.

[MizzBee]

acollegestudent, yes it would be ideal to sit in splendour appreciating art, etc but the OP obviously has a parent without unlimited funds. It isn't about one future internship, but about a tight job market. She has been given creative volunteer ideas to use her skills and also has been encourage to work in order to afford desireable summer internships on campus the following years since her guilt-tripping custodial parent can't afford paying for her to remain on campus all year long.

No one may have asked you about you freshman summer because you had a resume that showed that you didn't just "do nothing". Maybe a crappy summer job isn't ideal, but there have been other suggestions that relate to either chosen profession or would demonstrate that she used her talents to benefit others, such as working on a political campaign, volunteering as a cartoonist, use communication skills to help a non-profit, etc.

I also hire, and gaps in a resume always make me concerned, even for generally unskilled positions.

[basil1]

I agree with the others who think you'd be bored. Will you have friends to "do nothing" with or will they be working? Crappy jobs are character building and will give you something to lord over your kids when they are in college. My dad worked as a trash man while in college..Never heard the end of that :-) Plus, summer job will leave you plenty of time to do nothing, and money to do nothing with.

[Journier]

If you have the skills, offer your services as a math tutor. It pays well, is part time, can be fun, and it shows maturity. My son tutored college students off and on throughout high school and made $25 an hour with a 12 hour minimum. I made all the arrangements for his own safety and accompanied him as he tutored in the library or a coffee shop or fast food place.

[momofboston]

I vote for taking a part time job and enjoying your last summer of freedom. There is something to be said about stepping back from the rat race and evaluating your goals and future direction. I too will not hire a new college grad unless they have held a paid menial job at some point in their HS/college journey. In fact, they don't even make the interview cut. I think there is a lot to learn from this type of job in terms of responsibility, boredom, humility and working with the public. If a kid has internships that look too good to be true I always have someone else phone screen them with the objective of finding out how much their parents helped them versus what they were able to accomplish on their own. It is OK for the parent to help open the door the first time but it should be up to the kid to parlay that that into something else.

[eastcoascrazy]

Some of the most fun I ever had was during those summers of "crappy jobs" during college summers.

It was a long time ago, and I don't recall the words "summer internship" EVER crossing the lips of ANYONE. You just went home or stayed in your college town because you had an apartment, and you found the best paying job you could. None of them were ever directly related to our ultimate professions. Maintainance crew on the college campus, concessions at a river tubing business, general schlump at the local pool.... Just a few of the fine summer college jobs I held. Had an absolute blast at work and after work at every one of them.

Sorry I sound like a crabby old person, but sheesh. What a silly assumption that anyone without a trust fund gets a summer off.

I have always thought that a big gaping hole of "must have spent the summer at the beach or playing video games because there is nothing on that resume for three months" is a huge liability. "House Sitter/ Baby Sitter/ Dog Walker", or "Volunteer Somewhere", or, well, anything, is better.

If you were my child, I'd give you a couple of days to decompress on the couch, and then out the door you go... Find a job, or take some classes, or volunteer somewhere.

[BCEagle91]

> On the other hand, I can stay at home and work a crappy, minimum-wage job.

There's a huge number of people that would like that crappy, minimum-wage job right now.

Take a look at the employment report this morning to see how dismal things are right now. We're creating about 1.5 million jobs a year. There are several million new graduates coming on the labor market every year along with teenagers with no college, older folks, middle-aged folks also looking for work.

I worked part-time and summer jobs starting at 14 (my first job was at 11), and I got a lot of great experiences out of those jobs. Sure, they didn't pay much but I got to meet lots of people and was given responsibilities for all kinds of things and I was well familiar with the working world which made it pretty easy to find a job in a time when there was very high unemployment.

[oldfort]

Freshman summer, D1 "worked from home" for someone we knew. I think she worked 20 hours a week, often in front of our TV watching a show with me. She did a lot of tutoring the month of May to help kids with their finals. It was the last summer D1 had a relaxing summer. She went to the shore a lot with friends, and we had a lot of quality time.

If you could afford it, do some part time work, and you could still have a lot of time to do what you want. You could take few weeks off in the beginning and end of your summer. You are right, there won't be that many more carefree summers.

[emeraldkity4]

My kids loved their summer camp jobs, unfortunately,residential summer camps don't pay much. They both found they had to find ones that paid more eventually. My oldest also took that opportunity to take courses at the community college that her small LAC didn't offer, but would accept credits from. This gave her some leeway during the school year to work/study.
Youngest lives off campus, so she stays in her college town. She is also going to be enrolled for summer qtr again ( last summer, she did an overseas research program), but also working at a camp the university runs.

I expect both of them still manage to get quite a lot of enjoyment out of their summers.😊

[MiamiDAP]

Many places simply do not have any summer opportunities (even volunteering position have waiting lists that are beyond summer). Nope, economy is no good despite all these talks, not in my home town, people are still getting laid off, bonuses are not paid for first time.....etc..and it trickles down as people are taking all that is available at all in terms of job offers or even any volunteering, interning for free.
If you find anything at all, dirtiest min. wage job, any volunteering, whatever else, go ahead, why not? Do not get discouraged too much, many cannot find anything or find very little and just enjoy their summer. Summer classes might not make sense for some either, as Merit awards usually do not cover summers (as one reason). Take them only if it makes sense in your specific situation.

[BCEagle91]

I didn't read the whole thread but I didn't see anything to indicate the that original poster had even tried to find something. Yes, maybe there isn't anything out there but it wouldn't be a bad idea to at least make an effort to find something.

[MiamiDAP]

........unfortunately all might be gone by now, it is May after all, but, yes, why not to try, if there are no better things to do...

[Emaheevul07]

My freshman year of college I worked through the school year at a Borders store, then during the summer did a couple hours a week on sunday mornings volunteering at the Humane Society... basically playing with dogs, I'd looked for a job but couldn't find one. After that, there were classes to take every summer until I graduated... and now I have a real job and there will never be any such thing as summer vacation again. I think OP should find SOMETHING to do, even if it's something as little as my little volunteer job, just because it's healthy to have SOME structure. But I also don't think it's going to seriously adversely affect his career search in three years if he doesn't do a whole lot this last summer. If he is a pedal-to-the-metal kind of person the rest of his college career and collects the credentials and experiences he needs, which need not be seriously derailed by taking it easy for a couple months three years out from starting his career, I don't believe freshman year summer is going to be a deal breaker... JMHO.

[Hanna]

Yes, it is absolutely necessary. Plenty of courses or volunteer jobs only take up 8-10 weeks. You'd still have a few weeks to do nothing.