Tag Archives: Spring Break

Back From Break: A To Do List

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At school sometimes a week can fly by so fast that it feels like a day.  However, do not underestimate how long a week actually is, and what can be done during that time period.  Spring break may only be a little over seven days, but that is enough to throw you out of your groove.  Settling back in to courses and schedules can be a pretty big adjustment, even though our time away was technically short.

Where you are in your job search might have influenced how you treated your time off.  For me personally, I have not heard back from many places that I applied to, so I could not fully unplug.  However, I was not completely on top of my game either.  I checked my email every day for internship news and did my homework, but I dedicated most of my time during break to the purpose of taking an actual break.  Sometimes you need it, which is why we have it.  However, now that we are back in school, it is like I was never gone.

I heard back from two of the one dozen internships I applied to over break, and unfortunately did not move on in their hiring process, but that is not stopping me.  I hopped on to LinkedIn and Handshake the first night back on campus and set up a system.  I researched and selected several jobs from each site and moved each to their own tab.  I like to organize them by paid or non-paid, location, due date, and qualifications.  That way I can organize the order that I apply to them in based on how I should tailor my resume and when I should complete each one.  This is a very helpful strategy, at least for myself, because when we are dealing with school work and extracurriculars on top of job searching, we need all of the organization we can get.

I plan on applying to my new list over the course of the week.  There is something about filling out an organized schedule for my week and its workload that makes me feel like I am way more in control of my life than I probably am.

Speaking of managing time, I recently got a peer leader position for the Body Project Collaborative on campus.  I am very excited to start leading workshops, but first must go through a training course.  The course is all day Saturday and Sunday, meaning I am going to have to find time for homework.  I plan on dedicating all of Friday, as I do not have class, to completing as much homework as I can in order to prevent a stressful Sunday night.

I am passionate about social topics such as the media’s influence on body image and gender norms; I know I will enjoy facilitating Body Project workshops and developing my leadership skills.  Another plus side to getting the position is updating my resume, an activity that I always have fun with.  Adding experience always gives me a little boost of confidence.

Overall, getting back from spring break and settling into my routine once again has been fulfilling.  I am excited to get back to work and hopefully will receive some good news from internships within the next couple of weeks.

Making Professional Friends

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As a former Seattle resident, finding connections and expanding my network in Southern California has proved somewhat difficult.  I have lost all of the immediate connections that I had access to through my friends and family, and am essentially starting over in a new state.  Therefore, finding an internship this summer has required searching for potential connections through the scripps network and reaching out to my parents for any potential family friends.

Scripps College has an excellent database for finding information on alumna.  I have accessed the Scripps Community Network several times in the past month in order to gain some inspiration on what I want to do this summer.  By first narrowing the search down to California, then choosing the specific field of work I wanted, the network uses the search inputs to provide a list of Scripps alumna in the location and area of expertise.  It provides their occupation, where they work, and even some contact information.  This is a good tool to access during your internship search, because you can reach out to Scripps alumna and ask questions or advice on searching for career opportunities.

Another helpful networking to use is the Scripps College page on LinkedIn.  Although there is often little to no contact information, it is still easy to search for occupation and location to get some inspiration and maybe even connect with an alumna if she works for or as something that sparks your interest.

After using the Scripps Community Network to see a range of career paths taken by the alumni of Scripps, I had a wild thought: what if I found an internship in the entertainment or media industry this summer?  I have always enjoyed creating things, and just because I am a politics major does not mean I have to be a politician.  So, I reached out to my mom and asked about getting in contact with a family friend who works as a production designer on films and television shows.  I got her contact information, and am planning on connecting with her over spring break to discuss advice, tips, and how she got into the business.

Well, I am slowly building my network from scratch, so does that mean I am an adult now?  If so, I am not sure how to do it right, but I’m rolling with it.  While I am excited to have established this connection, it has been hard to focus on my career path for the past two weeks.  I had four midterms, which required a lot of time-management in order to figure out when and what I was going to study.

It can be hard to balance school and professional life, especially during times of heavy workload.  I managed it by unfortunately reducing my time at the gym and my time spent sleeping.  I am not saying that I cut the two out from my daily schedule completely, but instead, I shortened my workout to a thirty minute run instead of a full hour and a half training session.  I also started waking up early on days when I did not have morning classes in order to fit in an extra two hours or so of studying before lunch.  While I do love sleeping in and exercising, sometimes sacrifices must be made during midterms weeks.  I am excited for spring break to come so that I can have an extended period of time to focus on internship searches and network building without the stress of exams.

My Future Self Will Thank Me

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Two weeks ago Friday, I attended a CP&R module on Basic Budgeting. During the session, we heard from two Scripps alums about their experiences budgeting post-college and in the professional world. I have to confess that I had a mixed response to what I learned: the side of me that likes to be organized was intrigued with budgeting, yet the side of me that likes to do new and exciting things found it pretty tedious.

The timing of the session was perfect for me, since I will need to budget carefully on my upcoming spring break trip and during my summer internship. While I am excited for both of these occasions, I worry that it is easy to spend more money than I would like to while on vacation and living in a big city. The budgeting session really helped me to develop a plan for and feel in control of the money I will be spending. At the session, the two Scripps alums shared online resources that they use to monitor their personal budget. I have decided to implement two of the resources into my budgeting routine:

Mint is an app created by the software company Intuit that allows you to create a budget, track and pay bills, receive a breakdown of your spending categories, and many more helpful features. It is almost overwhelming how much the app can do for you. I have been playing around on the app for the past few days and have gained a new awareness of my spending patterns. Through the app, I learned that I spend the majority of my money throughout each month on food. Now that I know that I spend most of my money on food, I can learn to budget effectively and responsibly and make more informed decisions about going out for meals versus eating on campus.

I find that between Venmo payments and spur-of-the-moment Amazon purchases, it is very easy to lose track of where I spend my money. To help remember where I’m spending my money and on what, I’ve created a Google Sheet of my monthly spending. I feel much more at ease knowing exactly how much I’m spending each month and understand that I can truly be in control of what I’m spending.

While budgeting may not seem necessary for most Claremont College students, since most of us don’t have to pay monthly fees for rent or purchase groceries, it is an amazing habit to start early on. I will have more practice budgeting over spring break and this summer, and I am getting proactive about preparing myself for the costs of these occasions. Although I still have a lot to learn about budgeting, I hope to master the art of it before I graduate. I know that my future self will thank me.

 

 

Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman

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It’s so weird being eighteen. You’re at an age when you’re not a girl, not yet a woman. Cue Britney Spears.

Okay, so maybe I’m being a little melodramatic. But I’m truly at a weird point in my “professional” life, whatever that means. The reality is, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, I feel like I don’t have access to the same opportunities as my peers who are upperclassmen. As a legal adult, I’m expected to uphold a decent job… Yet the jobs I qualify for seem to include barista, sales associate, and not much in between. So much for that dream job at Got It Made L.L.P…. for now.

It’s no small secret that being a (budding) young professional in 2012 is hard. I don’t know much about business or the economy or the job market, but I’m aware that things are different from the way they were twenty years ago. You don’t need to be a Wall Street Journal subscriber to know that people are retiring later and job are harder to come by. This is especially true for younger and thus less qualified job applicants such as myself.

I recently applied for Maximum Impact 2012, Deloitte’s Alternative Spring Break. It is a community service program sponsored by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu USA L.L.P. and the United Way of America. Deloitte’s website more formally describes it as…

… a week-long, expenses-paid trip to Atlanta, GA, where we’ll be supporting students in at-risk communities inside and outside the classroom. Also, you’ll be working side by side with professionals and recruiters from Deloitte who can offer an inside look into life in professional services. And after a day spent working together, there will be plenty of opportunity for fun, including dinners, outings and other team-building activities.

Well, I think that beats watching Doctor Who reruns on BBC for a week. I’m still young and idealistic, so I believe that pro bono (or for the public good) work is best way to manifest one’s professional talents. My desire to contribute and give back to the community drives my career aspirations. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like Maximum Impact 2012, so I applied for the program in late January, knowing that I probably wouldn’t get one of 50 – 55 available spots. But I had to at least try! Like I said, it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. And who knows… If I keep trying, I might get lucky one of these days (I will keep you guys posted)!

I’m not exactly sure what I want to do with my life, but the bottom line is that I want to do good. Actually, I want to do a lot of good! Some typical career-related questions confuse me, like “How would you describe yourself?”. My response better answers “What motivates you?”.

I’m a lot of things. I’m a student. I’m a blogger. I’m a fat cat lover, a good book reader, and a green tea drinker. And I plan to use my talents to do good. Actually, a lot of good.