Summer for a Grad Student
Moving, job hunting, and just a whole lot of nothing
This summer, I really didn’t plan on going back to the States, but my friend convinced me to do so. And it was the right thing to do. There’s nothing quite like seeing family and friends after months of studying abroad.
It was a much-needed vacation month that was spent going to the beach, eating good food, having movie nights, and just catching up with everybody. I would’ve stayed longer if I didn’t have to move to a new apartment once I got back to Sweden. When I flew back to the little college town I lived in, it didn’t take long before I realized that not much goes on during the summers. Students are either already home, go home, or on vacation. As for me, I just came back from vacation and had a month and a half before classes start.
The move went smoothly and it really helps when you have friends with cars. It consisted of many back-and-forth bus trips at first, but when my friend agreed to assist with her car, it became a much easier and quicker move.
The upside of my new apartment is that I will now live alone in a prime location near the Central Station. The downside is that I live five stairs up with no elevator. And it gets crazy hot, especially on the top floor. Who knew Southern Sweden gets comparable weather to Los Angeles?
Once settled, I looked at summer jobs so that I could support myself for the remaining year I had left of grad school abroad. Not that grad school was expensive for someone with European citizenship (which reminds me, I gotta renew my American passport in a few days down in Copenhagen), but it helped me to get busy and also have some experience under my belt. Internships, jobs, anything, really. When the job search began, I couldn’t find jobs that were specifically psychology related, so I expanded my search. I figured I could take any job, or maybe expand my expertise. So I applied for some and received a call of rejection for one, while still waiting for others.
I’m not sure if employers only hire employees that are studying in the particular field, or if it’s because I have no experience. It made me wonder whether it would be this difficult once I graduated as well.
Other than that, I’ve been traveling a bit within Southern Sweden. I went to see my family in Helsingborg and I went to a beach in Ystad. Who knows what the rest of summer will entail? I got a suggestion to read ahead for the upcoming semester so I’ll be well-prepared once it actually starts. Nah, I think I’ll pass on that one.
For the time being, I’ll just wait to hear back from potential employers, casually scroll through some jobs here and there, find a good Netflix documentary, enjoy the outdoors, and really just take in the lovely Swedish summer. After all, I don’t know how many more Swedish summers I’ll get. So yeah, I guess I’ll be one of those rare gems that don’t have too much planned this summer. But frankly, I’m not complaining.
