Minor calamity – What am I going to do this summer!?

Pre-College Topics Summer Programs
1

<p>Well, due to numerous extenuating circumstances this summer, I am left with almost nothing to do. I’m signed up for a Creative Writing seminar at Sarah Lawrence from July 5th-11th, and, after my dad pooh-poohed the idea of me “paying to work” with Landmark Volunteers or some program somewhere, I thought I was going to return to my summer camp as a Junior Counselor – second session, which starts July 25th. 10 days or so ago, I called the camp and they said they were filled up. I became very distressed, and my dad e-mailed the director, who replied saying that he would try to shuffle things around so that I could go, and that I would hear from him in a day or two. He never replied. I can’t figure out if this is some kind of covert rejection or what. I tried e-mailing him myself but haven’t received a reply either. </p>

<p>Every day of waiting brings me closer to some sort of plan B. Except I don’t have a plan B. I see a course at Brown that I find somewhat appealing, but it’s a three-week course – probably $4000 or something. I live in New York City, and there are various things I could try to do around the city, but I would really rather go somewhere else for a while. I have an interest in the visual arts, particularly photography, and writing, especially journalism. I’m still open to the idea of volunteering somewhere. Does anyone have any suggestions for programs that are still open and start after July 11th? Anything they took at some point and enjoyed? Something that would be fun and enriching but also… look good on my transcript? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.</p>

2

<p>How old are you? If you are over 18, my D says suggests there may be a couple openings at a residential girl scout camp here in N. Cal.</p>

3

<p>Nah, I’m 16. (I forgot to mention – I’m going to be a Senior in the fall). I’m not sure if my parents would let me hop on a plane anyway unless it were something really spectacular. :|</p>

4

<p>I understand…my D has done the junior counselor thing (CIT) for the last three years. I always thought it was interesting that so many of the over 18 counselors were from overseas.</p>

5

<p>If you wanted to work on your Spanish or German, or if you wanted to take up Japanese or Korean, there are some late summer sessions with openings at Concordia Language Villages. You can learn a lot in four weeks of immersion. Highly recommended.
[Concordia</a> Language Villages - Schedule](<a href=“http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/newsite/schedule1.php]Concordia”>http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/newsite/schedule1.php)</p>

6

<p>Look for work. Tough at age 16, I know, but there are opportunities out there. Also look for volunteer work. Habitat for Humanity, local programs, soup kitchens, there are lot of things out there. Also let other camps know you are available. Things often open up in late July/Aug as kids tire of their jobs and head out for vacations.</p>

7

<p>There are writing workshops for high school-ers in NYC… I got a flier a while ago… look on teenink.com to see if you can find it.</p>

8

<p>[VolunteerMatch</a> - Search Results](<a href=“The Best Volunteer Opportunities in new york | VolunteerMatch”>The Best Volunteer Opportunities in new york | VolunteerMatch)</p>

<p>My D has found a few fun volunteer opportunities on the volunteer match website above. I looked up NYC out of curiosity and there are 1425 volunteer positions listed! </p>

<p>Also, if you are interested in creative writing there are quite a few writing contests such as Scholastic that you could enter or work on entries for. Also lots of essay contests to enter. You can find some listed on cogito.org or fastweb.com.</p>