SMC Options for Summertime

One of the saddest days of the year is when you pack up your room until it's white and empty and say the summer goodbyes. Many people just head home and find a job. Others take advantage of opportunities provided by the school. I wouldn't give up my summer job for the world, but if I hadn't landed this gig I'm sure I would have ended up with some sort of internship or campus job. Check out the options!

Internships

A lot of people look to focus on their fields during the summer as well as the school year. The Career Services website describes an internship as "the opportunity to experience a work environment, contribute to the mission of an organization, and gain experience in a particular field." Some internships are paid, some aren't. It's more difficult to be willing to take an unpaid internship during the summer. For a lot of people the summer is really the only time to make money that lasts all year. I know that if I had a job during school I'd go absolutely crazy. I'm busy enough as it is...

One of our bloggers, @gabbysmc, started an internship almost a month ago. She made her way to Los Angeles to be an Online Marketing/Social Media intern. Check out her blog or check out her hashtag, #glamtern on Twitter to read about her life!

On Campus Opportunites

Many people get the opportunity to continue focusing on their fields and interests at SMC for the summer. There are many chances to do research projects with faculty members. From the SMC website: "Students who wish to conduct summer research in their field of study may be awarded a Vice President for Academic Affairs Research Grant. The grant includes a $3, 700 stipend and campus housing (at a small fee). Grants are awarded in all disciplines."

@brichardson has been working all summer as an Admissions intern on campus. She lives on campus and gives summer tours. Another friend of mine is working on a Biology research project. There are many, many options.

Classes

Some students opt to continue studying during the summer. There are all kinds of different reasons for people to take these extra classes. Some people take them to get ahead and graduate early which saves money in the end. (I personally would never cut my time at SMC short, especially after transferring and only being there for three years to begin with!) Others take a class or who to make the workload a little easier year-round. I took classes so that I wouldn't be overloading during the year (having to pay for extra credits) after being a transfer. Check out the schedule for this summer!

Sweet Summertime

So, as it turns out, I'M STILL ALIVE. It's been just a little less than a month since my last post, which is completely out of character for me. I've been so unbelievably busy. Once exams were over things DID NOT slow down.

My brother, Evan, and I at his graduation.

I traveled all over for various reasons. The day after I got home I was up at 4:30 to fly from Burlington to Rochester, NY. The next day I drove the 7 hours back home. A few days later I was off to Hartford, CT to see my mom's family. We drove 5 hours to and from in the same day. That next weekend I was off to Burke, VT for my brother's graduation from Burke Mountain Academy.

View from the screened porch at the cottage.

Finally, after one day of full rest I moved into a cottage on the lake and started work at The Tyler Place. My first week was spent running all over after 2 1/2 - 4 year old kids. We went to a marionette show, played on trampolines, hung out in the Bookmobile, went fishing, and (thankfully) had a movie night. It was a crazy week to say the least. After the kids left Friday all of the counselors hugged it out in the Playhouse in celebration of making it through the first week.

This isn't to say that the kids were terrible. They were actually pretty awesome for the most part. It's just that we have a lot of new counselors joining us this year and a week as a counselor is a lot to jump into. Now that we've all gotten through the first week it'll get easier as everyone gets used to how things go here.

I'm now working with Seniors who are somewhere around the ages of 8 and 9. Today is my day off and after this post I expect to spend it at the TP pool, which you can check out in this post from last summer.

I promise to have a post of some substance at some point. Things will calm down as the summer gets rolling and I'll have a little more time to focus on something other than how nuts my life is!