Summer is a sacred time of year, especially when you live near UC San Diego. My campus is literally down the block from one of the best beaches in the country. Nestled in the booming-little-city of La Jolla California, students here enjoy surfing by day and partying by night.
The warm sub-tropical air helps pass the time slowly during the summer. White sandy beaches rim the Cove like gold-lining around a flawless sapphire. Living in coastal San Diego has its perks, for a price. A hefty one, right now I pay $725 for one bedroom in a house near campus. But then there's also the bountiful list of opportunities La Jolla has to offer young professionals, I just accepted a position as a legal-intern. It’s an opportunity that few aspiring lawyers would turn down, the experience and connections from this type of internships are invaluable. The only thing is… I work for free.
From my experience here over the summer, taking full class loads in addition to working has taught me a few things about how to survive with little free-time and limited financial resources. Things can get tricky when you have too much shit on your plate, but have no fear, there’s help.
These are the 3 rules for surviving summer-unpaid internships.
Rule #1: Time management and priority setting are essential to your survival.
Its party time, your friends are going on vacations to exotic topical destinations while you sit at home. Yeah it’s a sacrifice, one that YOU decided to make, so stick with your commitment and muscle through the work-load head on. Time management and priority setting are essential to your survival. It is far too easy to procrastinate during the summer. Summer goes by fast and the only way to enjoy free time is when it is actually free. Don't let yourself prioritize your tan higher than the work that you've set out to do in your internship. This rule applies even more if you're taking summer classes, the schedule is shorter and there is almost no make-up time for studying. So get a calendar app on your smart phone and use it, for everything, all the time, the main trick is sticking to it. Just remember what you're sacrificing your summer for in the first place, to get ahead.
Rule #2: Value your money, like you do your time.
If your working for free, that means two things, one is you are getting the experience you want to get in your field of choice. The second is, if your anything like me, you are broke. So treat your resources (especially money) like the scarce commodity that it is and ration it out accordingly. Set a summer budget for the essentials like transportation and groceries but also remember to have a little extra set aside for fun things that will keep you sane. That doesn’t mean that you have to do expensive-fun things, you can find awesome deals using Groupon that save tons of dough, be creative and value your money like you do your time.
Rule #3: Don't forget to have fun!
Just because you're busy and on a budget doesn't mean you have to live a life or boredom and self-loathing. You still have to take care of business and make moves in your internship, but that’s not a life-sentence to indentured servanthood. Find the free-time and money to do You, enjoy your life and forget about work once in a while and you’ll find yourself rejuvenated and ready to strive even further and work even better. The sooner you can adopt a work-hard-play-hard mentality the better, just don't forget to have fun!
