With the end of the semester looming, it is time for University students everywhere to start considering what their summer plans will be. Sunning down South? Enjoying time relaxing in the country home out East?
Sadly for the majority of us, summertime consists of making back the money we spent on Starbucks, textbooks, and adult beverages during the school year. Just because your summer may include waitressing your way through school or working various retail jobs to pay back your tuition, doesn’t mean that your summer is lost! There are various ways that we can make sure to capitalize on your summer in order to return to school in the fall refreshed, with a tan, and some great summer stories! 1. Make friends with the people you work with
Any job I’ve held thus far employed at least one if not many other students my own age, who I was able to quickly make a connection with. Bonding with the people you work with not only makes the day to day work bearable but also much more fun, and gives you someone to hang out with after work!
2. Find something rewarding in your everyday work
Whether you have a government job making a difference, working with kids to make parent’s lives easier, or any basic student job, work hard to find something inherently rewarding in your daily grind. I worked waitressing for three summers during the beginning of my undergrad and loved the experience of meeting new people and giving them an enjoyable experience every time they came in for dinner. Rather than getting stuck on the negative of it being a job, think of every employment experience as an opportunity to make a difference, no matter how small!
3. Discover new ways to enjoy the summer experience while at work
Becoming closer with co workers is a great start, but there are lots of ways to capitalize your summer while at work! Wearing summer-y clothes can help improve the mood even on a rainy May day; taking your breaks outside in a local park rather than the food court is another example of bringing the summer to work!
4. Take at least one summer road trip with friends
Book a few days off work towards the end of the summer to take one last hurrah as the ultimate summer experience! Even if you only venture a couple hours away, go camping or rent an inexpensive B&B; no matter what it is, it is sure to be an experience filled with fun stories with your girls! You can head back to school in the fall thinking back to the time you and your BFF’s saw a concert across the border, went camping in the hills, or took that road trip out East!
5. Make the most of your days off
No matter what job you work, you will always have your days off to make the most of your summer as well! At the start of your summer make a bucket list of everything you want to accomplish and experience that summer so you make sure come September you know you did everything you set out to and hoped for. Spend an entire day at the beach, drinking on patios with friends, meet a cute new boy, volunteer at a local charity; anything you feel will make every day off count to capitalize on your summer vacation!
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