Summer Jobs

I don’t want to get too personal in these essays. I’ve tried to avoid that. But as summer approaches it is difficult not to be nostalgic. My favorite summer was long enough ago that I’m reluctant to share the year. But in that time I had a fun job as a furniture delivery driver and it was one of the last times I can remember when I clocked out I forgot work until the next morning. What I remember (and misremember) so fondly was the way I learned responsibility (safe driving), was physical (carrying furniture upstairs was probably less fun than I recall), and how to interact with people as bosses and as customers. I wanted my own student to have that experience but it has been much more difficult for them to find that kind of job.

Don’t get me wrong, my student has had some interesting summer positions, but they’ve all been closer to their future working in an office, than an opportunity to mix lessons learned with independence and fun. My student was an intern in a firm in an international setting. Very cool! But still, dressing professionally, meeting deadlines, and navigating new environments did not lend itself to the freedom that summer promises.

This year my student is a day camp counselor, but instead of meeting that opportunity with relief and even joy, a prevailing mood is anxiety. What opportunities for advancement, for career preparation are missing while my student teaches kids how to ride their bikes safely? From my perspective, as an academic and a consultant, none. But it’s easy to forgive my student for feeling the prevalent anxiety of this moment when the news media and the public conversation seem to be about the difficulties with the job market for college graduates. 

I can’t pretend that a light, forgettable summer job is always the wiser choice in a moment when the future feels unstable. But I also know that when a season still gives you a chance to step outside the logic of constant advancement, embracing it is always an option. This isn’t an escape, but a reminder that a life can’t be built only on strategy or defined by one.