I found myself in a tricky situation last school year when I applied to dozens of internships in the LA area without any success to actually landing a position. When summer finally came around, I began to freak out (a lot)! So, I did the most rational thing, apply to more and more internships. Basically anything I qualified for!

Once June passed with no news from the additional internships I applied to, I went into full “rejection” mode, consisting of a lot of Nutella, burrito-ing in my bedsheets, watching Netflix, and wallowing in my childhood books. It took a while, but after allowing myself a few days to recover from being completely burnt-out, I drafted my “Plan B” summer plan. First, go to the gym regularly and cook amazing meals for my family. Second, help my parents out with their small business. Third, have fun. Fourth, write about it in a blog. So I did them all!

By the end of my summer, not only have I started a lovely blog, I also visited NYC, went to Disneyland and Universal Studios, drove to Venice Beach, made amazing food, enjoyed fantastic company, and overall, made a lot of amazing memories!

I would be more happy to devote a future blog to the magical wonders of having a blog, but the moral of my story I want to share with you, fellow readers, is that not having a summer internship is not the end of the world. I know some may disagree with the way I spent my summer, but it was definitely a conscious and rational decision I made. I decided to focus on what I believe are important: learning new skills (blogging, photo-editing, cooking), being productive (traveling, exercising, helping), and pursuing self-growth.

I can’t even express at how formative my summer was for me and how it immeasurably improved my optimism for the future! Down the line, I hope everyone achieves success in their job/internship journey. If you don’t succeed, remember to always invest in yourself and I’ll guarantee that you’ll be surprised at what you’ll find!