Life is short: You don’t always need a summer internship

It’s that time of year again. Handshake and LinkedIn are sending out barrages of emails with positions, professors are announcing opportunities for students to apply and the Career Center is holding its plethora of workshops.

Internship season has arrived.

This time of year can be overwhelming for college students. The semester has only just begun, and we’re already being told to start thinking about the summer and how that summer may impact the rest of our career.

Summer internships are held in high esteem, often higher than the classes we pay to take. I know this is not just a Miami University phenomenon, but it can feel like summer internships are labeled as absolutely crucial if we want to land a good job after graduation.

But, it can be exhausting to spend every waking moment working toward your future. So, I’ve decided to take a different approach to spending my summer.

I am a junior, so the summer of 2024 will be the last true summer break I ever have. It is extremely unlikely that I will ever have four months off (unless I become unemployed — uh oh) until I retire. Over winter break, this realization hit me like a truck, and that was when I decided to forgo an internship this summer.

I realized that I am young. I am free. I have the opportunity to do something different than what is institutionally expected. I decided that this summer, I would go on a great adventure.

I firmly believe that adventure is at the core of the human spirit. It is human nature to seek out exploration and yearn to be transformed by something grand. I have felt this yearning since I was a senior in high school, and I knew that I needed to answer the call of adventure that was tugging at my soul. That felt more important than any internship ever will be.

For me, this materialized itself in planning to hike the 500-mile Colorado Trail. I have always wanted to do a thru-hike — an extended hike over many weeks. As I approach a future that will hopefully entail a full-time job and family (which, don’t get me wrong, I am also happily looking forward to), I realized this summer may be the last time I can answer that call to the fullest extent.

I also know that not everyone wants to sleep on the ground and not shower for days at a time. The decision to make the most out of this period of your life could be studying abroad over the summer, working in a beautiful area of the country for three months or any sort of transformative journey that you can envision.

I must be honest and recognize that this decision may have been easier for me than for others. I went through the stressful process of getting an internship last summer. I did not love the internship I was in and it made me realize that I wanted to do something more with my time as a college student. Nonetheless, I am still able to put it on my resume.

Perhaps, though, there can be substitutes during the semester for internships. Getting hands-on experience with a career-focused club like The Miami Student, doing research, getting involved in student government and many other opportunities can get you the experience and resume-building material that employers will eventually look for.

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Ironically, choosing to not get a future-focused internship has made me feel much better about my future. I feel elated knowing that for five weeks I am going to live life exactly how I want to, and Future Me will be thankful for the memories and experiences.

We can prepare for the future without sacrificing the incredible opportunities we have at this time in our lives.

Life is beautiful, but we only live it once. Take this miracle we have been given and squeeze every ounce of meaning and joy out of it. There is something greater out there for anyone who feels stuck, it is about choosing to chase after that which fills you with wonder.

I implore you to go on that adventure. Find what makes your heart soar. Let it change you, and bring it into your life. That internship will not define who you are. Only you can do that.

Sam Norton is a third-year honors student majoring in biology with an environmental science co-major and journalism minor. He has been writing for The Student since his first year, won a regional SPJ award for his opinion columns, and is currently the GreenHawks and Assistant Opinion Editor.

nortonsm@miamioh.edu