Attending Drexel University we pride ourselves on our Co-op program. About 99% of students enroll take up the offer of the Co-op. For those that don’t know what a Co-op is let me explain. Co-op stands for cooperative education. Think of it as a six month full time internship.We get to work in our future field and get real life hands on experience. You know the kind of experience employers ask you for six months after you leave college with your million dollar degree! The kind where you dress up like a forty year old who's been at a company for ten years. Yup, that kind.
Drexel, who also runs on a term system for said Co-op, has what we call cycles. There are Fall/ Winter and Spring/ Summer. If you are assigned a Fall/Winter Co-op, your life sucks. Fall/Winter Co-op students, work during the months of September- March. This also means they are in the physical classroom from the beginning of April to end of August. Theres the Spring/Summer Co-op. The better one. You are working Beginning of April until term starts again in September. Oh yeah, we start school in September like a bunch of High schoolers.
September/Spring Co-op are better because realistically you feel like a college student. Think about it, your not in the classroom for May to August. That’s when all your other friends from college are free too. The best thing you can do is score a 9 A.M to 5 P.M job. This way you can still hang out with your friends late at night, and party with them on the weekend, like a typical Summer free college student.
Theres the dreaded Fall/Winter Co-op. Essentially they have the bad end of the deal. Not only are they attending classes in the scoring heat we call Summer. They also don’t really get a christmas break. Okay, so maybe if your Co-op is at a school. Think about it. All those college students who look for their four weeks off for Christmas break. They either sleep their life away or party. They get a four week break from everything. Being on a Fall/Winter Co-op you probably get a couple of days. Did I mention going to work in the Snow! You only get so many sick and call out days. It’s not class where you can just not show up and probably still pass.
I personally think a Fall/Winter Co-op would just suck. I have Spring/ Summer and I can’t wait to wear my summer business wardrobe, it's pretty awesome. I look forward to my Christmas college breaks and sleeping in on snow days. I will always look forward for my Spring/Summer Co-op over a Fall/Winter friends.
