Two weeks before the end of the semester, I was notified that I wouldn’t move on to the interview process because of complications with COVID-19. At this point, I had two weeks to find another internship or a summer job before the spring semester ended and my summer began. And so began my frantic search for a job or internship. I spent two weeks sending in dozens of applications. I received three interviews, one call back, and zero offers.
As the semester rolled to a stop and my summer began, I had landed a few interviews, but the businesses didn’t offer part-time work, which I would need because I signed up for a couple of summer classes. I was extremely disheartened that I couldn’t even get a temporary part-time job, but understood that the pandemic has significantly impacted the number of jobs available. I decided to move on with my summer and instead focus my efforts on summer classes and personal projects.
I took a 300-level statistics class that helped me move forward in my degree and an interview prep workshop that helped me prepare for technical interviews. Both classes went well, and I am really glad I took the time to take them. To make the most out of my summer, I decided to work on some personal projects.
Let me tell you, doing personal projects is hard.
I spent more time trying to find an idea and plan out a way I can do it within a summer with my abilities than actually doing the projects. I got stuck and couldn’t find help on one of them. The other two are partially done.
Side note: exercising during a pandemic is DIFFICULT!! It was hard for me to find the motivation to go outside and run a little or try to do workouts at home. Fortunately, cases were low in Montana (where I spent my summer) so my pool opened June 1 and I was able to swim once a day for two months of my summer. Props to all you people who did some sort of exercise or self-care over the summer. |
In the middle of June, I got a message from the Career Connections program (yeah remember them from the spring?). They didn’t have paid opportunities anymore, but they had a few businesses that were looking for interns who still wanted experience. I was already set on a good steady rhythm for the summer and didn’t really want this to mess things up more…. But I decided to give it a shot.
Five interviews later, I got matched with a business that runs STEM camps for kids. They were extremely understanding of my commitments and were willing give me flexible hours, and they were excited that I was in SWE (you should definitely join SWE if you haven’t already!).
My daily schedule during the latter half of my summer looked something like this:
5:00 am: Wake up
5:30-7:30 am: Swim
7:30-8:30 am: Breakfast and sit outside in the nice weather
9:00 am: Nap (yes I took naps at 9 in the morning)
10:00 am: Study Japanese (or at least try to)
10:30-11:30 am: Statistics lecture over Zoom
11:30-12:30 pm: Homework
12:30-1:30 pm: Lunch
1:30-3:30 pm: Internship work
3:30-6:00 pm: SWE work or Projects
6:00-7:00 pm: Dinner
7:00-9:00 pm: Homework or Projects
My days were packed and the first month of summer was full of stress and worry, but it ended up being a productive summer. I’m thankful for all the opportunities that were given out to me during a stressful time. There were many things I wasn’t happy about, but I’m grateful to have a home to go to and thankful for the support that I had.