My Experience Without an Internship: 4 Ways I Stay Productive over Summer
As I was studying for my Calculus final, the last exam that I’d have to take my freshman year, I repeated to myself “Don’t worry, summer’s almost here.”
Those words are what got me through me the stress of finals season.
However, when I finally finished all my exams and finished packing up — a strange emptiness crept into me. My mind was flooded with the sudden realization that I had no plans for the summer. I was so caught up in just trying to survive my first year of college that I neglected to apply for a coveted technical internship. Since most of my friends were freshmen, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t have a summer internship lined up, so I found comfort in the fact that I wasn’t alone. But when I got home, things felt different.
Since I was homesick for the most part of my second semester, I decided to visit my family in India, and I was excited to spend the next few months relaxing and doing nothing.
However, it was only a few weeks into summer when I started to get bored and anxious about not doing anything productive with my time.
As one naturally does, I went to Google for some advice and looked up whether it was OK that I didn’t have an internship in the summer after my freshman year and if I was destined for failure because of this. Google actually helped calm my nerves because many articles and videos popped up in which professional developers talked about their own journeys in the tech industry and how everyone has their own timelines. Although his channel isn’t like the usual programmer channels out there, Jarvis Johnson’s 12-minute video summary on how he got his Computer Science degree helped me put things into a better perspective. I highly recommend this video to you if you feel like you’re behind everyone else around you.
Just a heads up — you’re not.
People often forget that they’re living their own lives and fall into a vicious cycle of comparisons, especially in industries as spirited as tech where there are mixed opinions on everything, such as the intense ongoing debate on whether to use spaces or tabs (#TeamTabs). So, how did I survive this chaos myself? It wasn’t easy to escape the negativity that comes with comparisons and feeling lost. Only after I realized that I define my own success story, I was able to find ways to be productive without compromising the relaxation that summer is meant to be about.
Without further ado, here are the 4 ways I’ve been staying productive (+ sane), this summer:
- Learn(ing) new skills and develop(ing) old ones
Fortunately, I have a fairly good internet connection which gives me access to wonderful free resources like YouTube (check out thenewboston), Codeacademy, edX, and Coursera. I used these resources to learn new languages like Ruby, while improving my skills in Java, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Python. Even though I’d lose track somedays, it was nice to be able to learn things at my own pace and I felt like I was able to understand concepts better without the pressure of project deadlines and stressful college exams. Also, I noticed that the best way to learn is by coding projects of your own. Even coding the simplest widgets can make you more confident in your abilities.
2. Volunteer(ing) at a local hospital.
One positive side of having free time in your hands is that you can do the things that you’ve been meaning to do for a while. I’ve always wanted to use my technical skills to develop something useful for an organization that doesn’t have enough resources to do everything on its own. So, I reached out to a hospital near my locality that I had been going to since I was 10 years old. They were happy to be offered help and I was grateful that they wanted me to create a new website for them and develop a program to calculate their emergency expenses. It’s been challenging yet a great learning experience to work on these projects without guidance.
3. Enroll(ing) in Summer classes.
Frankly, I might’ve jumped the gun on this one and registered for two online courses this summer. I impulsively took the decision at the start of summer while I was stressing about not having any plans to keep busy. Since I don’t like dropping out of courses unless I absolutely need to, I decided to continue with my classes. It’s been a pleasant experience for me balancing my summertime learning with other activities in the day because it gives me an opportunity to stay consistent with my work while working according to my own timeline.
4. Relax(ing)
Now, I know this one might sound counterproductive but personally, I believe relaxing is what makes me more productive than anything else. Trust me, burnout is real, and most people don’t realize it until they’re extremely fatigued and exhausted. That’s why I convinced myself to take a breather and put aside an ample amount of time over summer break to just relax.
At first, this wasn’t easy for me to do because I’m the kind of person who thinks about all the work I should be doing while trying to enjoy a good film or trying to take a nap. Yet, after some practice and positive thinking, I learned to take time off without beating myself up for it.
The key to finding a healthy balance of productivity and relaxation is to figure out what you need. Don’t be afraid to cut yourself some slack and remind yourself that a demanding workload is not the only way you’ll succeed.
With a little over a month left of summer, the thought of college feels a bit daunting. That being said, my experience without an internship this summer has taught me a lot. It has taught me that I am the only one who can decide what’s best for me and it’s not wrong if I work towards my dreams at my own pace.
Hopefully, I will continue to find more ways to balance my productivity and relaxation.
Hopefully, you will too.
