What Not to Wear

What Not to Wear on TLC used to be one of my favorite shows. I loved watching them buy new clothes and help transform people’s looks. For a while, I considered dressing poorly and staging my entrance onto the show. Of course, most of the show is predicated off of helping people dress more professionally for the workplace, and I don’t even have a real job yet. So needless to say, that idea probably won’t happen. Nor would I ever want to look like those people do before Stacy and Clinton worked their magic.

While it’s hard to say what I imagine myself wearing to work since I don’t even know what I want to do, many images flash through my mind. I’ve always believed that I could be a well-dressed professional. If I were to work in an office, I would love to wear cute professional clothing and dress up everyday. Now if I were to be an outdoor adventurer, my attire would be extremely different. I could get a good pair of hiking boots, some nice zip-off pants, and a big floppy sun hat to protect myself. I’d be perfectly happy with that outfit, as well. And if I were to be a chef, I would definitely love to wear some gray checker board pants and a chef’s hat, because who doesn’t want to dress up like that everyday?

Not all jobs require the same attire, but it is a huge skill to know what to wear. When interviewing, it’s important to look professional and give off a good first impression. And once you’ve started your job, you can get a feel for your everyday wear.

Although it’s probably not the best idea to base what job you would like to have off of what clothing you want to wear, but it may be something to consider. And definitely don’t have to be sabotaged by your friends and put on What Not to Wear, because then you know you have gone too far downhill.

What’s an internship?

Although summer seems so far off in the distance, it will be here before we know it. And though that is a great thing, it is also somewhat unfortunate. With summer comes the necessity of a summer job.

Although I have spent the last few summers of my life as a babysitter, I have decided that it has come time to find a “real” job. And for this upcoming summer, that may mean an internship. But what exactly is an internship? To me, it just sounds like a fancy way to say that you will be getting coffee for other working people and doing their dirty work. I know that is not true for all internships, but it’s hard to know what to expect until you are actually there.

Though I don’t actually have an internship lined up yet for the summer, I have started to think about it. And I have many questions. Should I try to find one in a field that I may potentially want to be in? Or should I find one with some big-shot company that will look good on a resume? Should I shoot for the stars, or just stay local? I really have no idea. I don’t even know if I want to have an internship over the summer, or if I should instead find a job at J. Crew where I can get good employee discounts and stock up on cute clothes.

Realistically, you don’t have to have an internship after your first year of college. If you know what you want to do and have a company that you think would be great to experience, then go for it. However, if you need a little bit more time to figure everything out, then that is alright as well. Sometimes it may be best just to collect a bunch of ideas and look into internships in preparation for two summers from now. There’s no need to rush into it if it’s not something that you feel super great about.

Starting off with a smaller and more local business may be a good booster step for future bigger internships. Trying right away for a big corporation with lots of applicants may leave you in a hole. Make sure you have options and look for a variety of positions. Also consider whether or not it would be paid! There is lots to consider when looking for internships.

If having an actual job and earning money doing something else is a better fit for you, don’t be worried to just do that. The choice is yours, but don’t let the idea of an internship scare you! After doing some research, it already seems more plausible to me and less like a scary monster waiting in the closet for me.

[Editor’s note: Scripps has funding options for students seeking unpaid internships or research opportunities.  You can learn more about CP&R’s summer internship grant application process here, and be sure to check out Scripps Fellowships, too.]

The Babysitter’s Club

Nobody ever seems to give babysitting the credit that it deserves. Everybody sees it as some insignificant childhood job that teenage girls do during the summer. Although that is somewhat true, it should get more recognition than that.

Ever since the age of 11, I have been a babysitter. I remember going to babysitter training and learning CPR and first aid skills, and being super excited by it all. Since then, I have been babysitting during the school year and all throughout the summers. Babysitting constitutes my job, and I have been a part of the club for years.

Though it’s not an exclusive club, it is definitely one that requires a certain set of skills. While the list is extensive, you have to be responsible, timely, clean, respectful, fun(ny)… Adults are trusting you with their children and their homes. I feel like a lot of other jobs don’t require the same amount of responsibility that is required from babysitting, so why do they deserve more credit?

Ok, I can understand why more professional jobs receive more credibility than babysitting, but that doesn’t mean that everything about babysitting should be discredited. What would these parents do without babysitters and nannies? They’d be in a pretty big hole, I’d say.

I can’t say that I’ve ever had a “real” job until I got to Scripps. That in no way means that I have never worked before. I worked from 8 am to 5 pm nannying all summer, sometimes being gone from home longer than my working parents. Yet babysitting doesn’t show well on a resume, nor will people really accept references from people for whom you have babysat.

I am proud to say that I am a babysitter. I love playing with little kids and getting to be in charge for a while. I feel like I carry a lot of responsibilities as a babysitter, and I also have been prepared well for many possible jobs in the future. When looking for jobs after college (or even during college and internships and everything), I know that I will be better off because I was a babysitter and will have a valuable set of skills. So even though it might not be the best job to have on a resume, I know that it will have provided me with really valuable experience.

Choosing Classes or Picking a Job?

Picking and registering for classes seems to me (an inexperienced freshman) like picking a job. There are so many potential options, however I still feel so limited in what I am able to do. I have gone over and over the catalog trying to find the right courses to take, figure out timing that will work, and find the best professors. At first I was so excited to be able to take new classes and have a wider variety of options. Then I found out that my registration time was at 4:15, and everything became a little less hopeful.

Going through these steps has been similar to how I’ve approached jobs. At first, I get so excited about considering all of the jobs that I could possibly have. I could be a journalist, the owner of a start-up business, a lawyer, a publisher, a coffee barista, a traveler… The world seems to be at my feet. However, I then realize that I can only have one (or two) majors and that I won’t be automatically given my dream job. And then I realize that when I go into the work field, I will be one of many little fish in a big, big pond. Just like my late 4:15 registration time.

As it is still only my first semester of my first year here, I know that things will eventually work out. I have all five schools here to help me take the classes that I need, I have a great adviser, and I know some tricks to help me get into classes. But it’s a little more daunting when it comes to working after college. Hopefully I will be able to build some connections while here at Scripps and take advantage of all of the resources that I can. That way when I graduate I will not feel too little in the big pond.

Finding a job after college and working for the rest of your life is still a little bit more of a challenge than just registering for classes for next semester. They are still similar, though. You have to remember that eventually things will work out. Even if there is a job that you don’t like, you know that you won’t want to stay in that field or further pursue it. Just like the politics class I took this semester. Even though it hasn’t been my favorite class, it was still good in alerting me to the fact that I don’t want to study politics.

The job process is similar to college, just stretched out on a much larger scale. While things here at Scripps seem to occur so quickly, finding and maintaining a job will take a much longer time. So after graduating from college, that’s the number one thing that I will have to remind myself: things aren’t going to work out right away, and it may take a few tries to get it right. Just like choosing your classes and trying to choose a major. It will all be alright in the end (hopefully).

When Life Gives You Lemons…

When you’re trying to make lemonade, life doesn’t always give you lemons. It’s great if you do get lemons and make lemonade out of them (which you should), but it doesn’t always work that way. Success is hard to achieve. Some people make it look easy to be famous, or have cool jobs, or do really well after school. But for many people, it actually took a long time to get to that place.

Buzzfeed posted a list of people who are super successful now, but weren’t in their twenties. I guess that’s reassuring to know that people like Oprah weren’t always the superstars they are today. But is it really? It’s still terrifying to think about not having a job after you graduate from college, or not having any success with things you’d like to do.

We all have dreams and hopes for ourselves, especially college students after graduation. We’d all like to think that we’ll be doing exactly what we want once we’re out of college. As a first year, I know I shouldn’t be worrying about my future self in four years, but I can’t help it. I feel like as much as you set yourself up for success, it’s all up to whether or not life wants you to have those lemons. I definitely want those lemons, so I’m going to try to start early on my success after college.

What do I think that entails? I think that means going to career fairs, thinking about goals you want to achieve while still in college, making connections, applying for internships… Everything that they say to do in college. And ultimately I feel like even though you can try really hard to get those lemons, sometimes it doesn’t work out right away. But I do know that if you keep trying and stay motivated, you are a lot more likely to get to where you want to be. For some people, life requires more work to earn your lemons.