Hello everyone! Welcome back from your adventurous and hopefully relaxing spring breaks. Whether you were home with family, embarking on a road trip or zipping off to a beach, here’s to getting a well-deserved breather from the everyday stresses of the academic calendar!

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Now that the final break of the year has passed, you’re probably in the midst of summer planning. You may have applied to jobs, made plans to go home, or decided to do some traveling. But once you’ve set some plans in stone, the hardest part is done, and you can start to look forward to a bright summer!!!!

After accepting an offer, or deciding where you’ll travel, you may wonder, What else should I do to prepare? Most likely, there are some logistics you’ll need to consider going forward. You may need to make a check list for living arrangements, finding optimal sources of transportation, and figuring out what to do for entertainment!

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One of the crucial factors in these plans is having a budget. I took a step back to analyze how these financial decisions can impact my summer plans. A budget not only affects where we live and work, but also how we travel, what we buy, and what activities we do in our spare time.

These factors compelled me to ask: What if money weren’t a factor in our summer plans? How would it change where we applied to work, travel, and do for fun?

Having this newfound freedom could open the doors to several possibilities. It might lead us to live and work in places we never before considered. Personally, if the cost of rent weren’t a factor, I’d love to spend the summer working and living in a city I’ve never before visited. New York tops my list: After finishing a day at work, I’d spend the nights exploring every last nook and cranny in the city. From the Empire State Building, to countless museums and Broadway shows, I’d fulfill my bucket list and unpack the Big Apple’s greatest treasures.

Odds are, if we didn’t have to worry about money, we would make some adjustments to how and where we spent our summers. You may pursue work in a different location, take a fun road trip and travel to new lands, or get a little R&R from the busy school year! With an unlimited budget, what would you do this summer?

Over the weekend, I was knee-deep in the process of applying to internships. I was holding out for one particular opportunity, and had had the honor of moving on to the daunting interview phase. The company asked that I record responses to three on-the-spot questions. Each prompt allowed only a minute-long response. Although I found the task intimidating, I was excited for the challenge.

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Once I submitted my responses, I couldn’t help but feel positive about my chances of getting the position. I’d stayed composed and concise in the videos, and I felt confident in my resume and cover letter. I’d be hearing the results in the following week. Though I tried not to stayed glued to my computer, I couldn’t help but await the inevitable email.

Just three hours after sending the videos, the company emailed me. That was fast, I thought. Surely, that must mean there’s good news! But it wasn’t. The company was no longer interested in considering me as a candidate.

My heart sank, and I immediately started criticizing myself and doubting my potential. What did I do wrong? I wondered. What did I say that would make the company reconsider? I spiraled even further: Am I pursuing the right career path? Should I even be an Economics major?

Devastated by the news, I called the one person who could make me feel better: My mom. Naturally, she was sorry to hear the rejection. She’d known how much I’d wanted the position, and understood that it was difficult not to take the results personally.

What my mom would not accept was when I started feeling sorry for myself. She demanded I pick myself up, and told me not to think about this denial any longer. “Think of all the other people who applied for the job,” she reminded me. “Think of how many people also received this email.”

This interpretation really put the results into perspective. I couldn’t help but feel a little better, knowing that I wasn’t the only person who had EVER gotten rejected.

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My mom understood why I felt upset, hurt, and in some sense, even a little angry. That wasn’t the problem; in fact, it was a good thing, she said. What was the problem was how I was utilizing that energy: Instead of obsessing over this one position, I could have been been proactive by looking for opportunities that were even better. It was totally fine to be emotionally charged, as long as I used this emotion to enhance my future internship quests.

I also found it helpful to think back to times when I’d previously experienced some form of denial. I pictured one of the first times I’d ever experienced rejection was when I didn’t get the role in my middle school. As the most heartbreaking moment in my pre-teen life, I considered giving up acting and singing for good.

At the time, this rejection felt feel like the end of the world. And naturally, it took a while to heal from the sting (I was a very dramatic sixth grader). But my parents urged me not to quit. Just because this play hadn’t swung in my favor didn’t mean I’d never get a part again. They were right: I kept working and kept auditioning, so that I could prepare better for future roles. Sure enough, I was one of the leads the following year.

I’m not sharing this story to glorify my pre-teen dreams of acting and singing. Even in moments of rejection, when things seem bleak, I challenge you to flip the script. Instead of dwelling over what could have been, think of all the amazing things you did to get that far. Be proud of the fact that you took a risk. By using rejection as a learning opportunity rather than internalizing it as a failure, we can be more productive and proactive human beings.

We all have seen or even met people we admire. We may admire certain people for different reasons: maybe it’s their accomplishments, their unique interests, or the way they conduct themselves. Regardless, we have role models who inspire us to think bigger and do better every day.

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Sometimes in job interviews or ice-breaker games, you’ll get the question, Who is your role model? To me, that seems nearly impossible to answer! Among the billions of people in the world, why (and how) would you choose only one? There are so many great people, but among my favorites are Audrey Hepburn and Lady Gaga. On paper, these women couldn’t be more opposite: Their artistic passions differ, their times in the spotlight don’t overlap, and their tastes in fashion definitely contrast.

Growing up, I always admired Audrey Hepburn’s incredible acting, singing, and dancing in My Fair Lady and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. One year for my birthday, my mom gave me How to be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life; I keep it next on my dresser at school for inspiration. But what I find even more captivating than Audrey’s skills and personal style is her modesty, poise, and optimism. She epitomizes grace because of her humble nature. She never tried to be glamorous; in fact, the less she tried, the more she was. And yet, she was never fazed by the eyes of the world watching and adoring her; under the public lens, she remained cool, calm and collected. I strive to be like Audrey, who brought humility, poise, and compassion to every task she completed.

On one hand, I aspire toward Audrey’s composed spirit. On the other, I’m drawn toward characters who aren’t afraid to take risks and express their unique opinions, even when some find them polarizing. For this reason, I’m fascinated by Lady Gaga. Despite some of her controversial music, performances, comments and fashion statements, Gaga owns who she is. She is fearless; she stands strong in her beliefs and personal being. She acknowledges that not everyone is going to like what she does, what kind of music she makes, or whether she chooses to wear a meat dress one day. Instead of letting criticism overpower her life, she lives by the motto, At the end of the day, you won’t be happy until you love yourself. Gaga is so much more than an entertaining artist; she’s a human being who is has embraced her entity, and inspires others to be proud of who they are.

On the surface, Audrey Hepburn and Lady Gaga may not appear to have much in common. What they undoubtedly share is an incredible ability to embrace their personas creatively and positively. What’s more: They encourage their fans to be strong, tenacious, and kind to both themselves and each other. Anyone who can carry themselves with confidence and grace is a hero in my books.

You may have noticed there are quite a few General Education requirements we must fulfill at Scripps. In addition to a three-semester CORE program and a mandatory Writing 50 course, we must engage in several academic subjects. From Math and Social Sciences, to Language and Gender and Women’s Studies, we are challenged to cover a lot of ground.

What, you may ask, is the purpose behind studying so many fields? What do we gain through these dynamic and diverse courses? Some may argue that the number of GEs Scripps students take is excessive. They may not directly tend toward our majors, or come intuitively to us. Admittedly, this is why I’ve repeatedly avoided the daunting task of fulfilling my Natural Sciences requirement.

Some come to college with a preconceived idea of what they want to study, how they’ll pursue their interests, and where they want to be after they graduate. So why must we take classes if they aren’t geared toward our specific fields?

Before my senior year of high school, I, too, challenged the logic behind studying certain courses. I knew I wanted to pursue Religious Studies, Creative Writing, and Spanish. I wanted no part in math or science courses; the idea of completing a trigonometry problem made my skin crawl.

Because of my terrible track record in math, I dreaded the idea of taking Statistics my senior year. I’d taken Precalculus as a junior, and would stare blankly at the board while concepts flew over my head. As if I hadn’t struggling enough, things got even worse when I received my third concussion from volleyball. The hit forced me to miss two months of school, and by the time I returned, it was impossible to catch up and keep up with the rest of the class.

Discouraged by my lack of understanding, I concluded I would never be good at math. But of course, I couldn’t just stop taking math; my high-school curriculum required I take a class my senior year. Hesitantly, I chose Statistics, a study I knew absolutely nothing about. I worried I had entered yet another course of complicated formulas and word problems.

Much to my surprise, something clicked with Statistics. The theories made sense; the equations made sense; even the graphs made sense! I tried not to get too excited; after all, this was early on in the school year. I was sure that by the third week, everything would become abstract.

But it never became abstract; for whatever reason, I actually understood the material. I credit my success in the class to a great teacher and textbook. But regardless of how it came together, I’d discovered a new skill I would have never even explored had it not been a required part of my education.

Three years later, Statistics is still my favorite area of study. It was the deciding factor that led me to Economics, where I uncovered an entirely new passion. Not only had I never explored this new field before, but I’d also never imagined I’d be good at it and enjoy it.

One reason we take these classes is to gain knowledge in a variety of subjects. By doing so, we expand our academic horizons, and meet people with different ambitions. We also can find hidden fascinations or talents in the most unexpected studies. Thus, taking classes outside our immediate focuses leads to entirely new worlds of curiosity, and even shift our interests and goals.