What should you do with the next three months?
Welcome to every student’s summer dilemma
No one knows why. But for some reason, the powers that be have decreed that students get a three-month long summer holiday.
It’s going to be something of a shock when we actually have to work for more than half the year. But, since we have the time off, the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it.
The typical dilemma for students is working out what ratio of work to holiday is the best.
If you’re not sure how to divide up your summer, here are a few points to consider:
Enjoyment
Which do you enjoy more: work or play?
As students, we’re generally given a little leeway in hedonism since we’re still young and rather full of ourselves. So why not take advantage of this and just take three months off to do absolutely nothing productive?
Any other time in life you’ll be labelled a good-for-nothing idler, but right now it can be laughed off as youthful ignorance.
Money
A week in Ibiza will cost you £500. A week working might give you £250. Staying on a Spanish island for a bit may be great fun, but it won’t boost your savings like becoming a barista will.
And by getting that barista job you’ll make loads of hipster friends too. Sadly, the same can’t be said of Ibiza.
Time
Let’s be honest, the next time you’ll have so many months free will be either when you’re retired or seriously ill.
With either of those, you’ll probably not be in a great position to go hiking through the Amazon rainforest for two months.
So, if you fancy yourself as the next Edmund Hillary or Henry Morton Stanley, then now is the time for a good, long exploration.
Experience
I’m sure you’ll have heard of the paradox that you can’t get a job until you have experience and you can’t get experience until you get a job.
Well the summer holidays are ideal for breaking that paradox. With the flexible hours granted by leisure you are much more employable than when studying. This enables you to take the first step on the long walk to CEO.
Company
What are your friends doing? If they’re all going interrailing over summer and you’re sat in an office somewhere answering phones, you’ll probably not be too happy with your decision.
Similarly, if everyone you know is working, but you’ve decided to head off alone anyway, you may find yourself in some cold Bulgarian train station. Suddenly, sad and alone, you might wish you had someone to share your last Lev with. So, do things with people that you like and like you – that way you know that if everyone is miserable, it at least is not your own fault.
At the end of the day, there’s no easy answer. And to make it even more difficult, you’re running out of time for both bookings and interviews. And everyone seems to plan their weeks off at different times so no-one will be around when you are anyway. And it’ll probably be raining.
So, with all the wisdom afforded to me by my mere twenty years, I reckon the best solution is to do a bit of everything. Expect the worst, hope for the best, and it’ll be fresher’s week again before you can say I Wish I Got A Work Placement.