Hundreds of career choices exist, and yet you need to choose just one. You cannot help but wonder how others are able to decide on their paths. One way to find the answer is test out doing work over the summer.
Internships and jobs help students decide what career they want to focus on in the future, as well keep their summer free of boredom.
The Natural History Museum in D.C. offers internships year-round. Staff at the museum share their time and talent with students who seek internships in all their areas of expertise. This includes natural history research, collections management and facilities operation.
Junior Jesse Edwards spent the summer interning at the Natural History Museum where she identified spiders. She said the experience helped prepare her for the future, and she will continue working at the museum throughout the school year. “Since I want to do something with arachnids later in my life I feel like it was worth the time,” Edwards said.
Summer Rise is a three-week, 60-hour program that allows rising juniors and seniors to participate in a career-based learning opportunity during the summer. It exposes students to career field options, allowing them to have a clear understanding of job requirements and starting salaries. There are different jobs and internships available, from teaching art to landscaping.
Senior Ivy Huang managed to get a job as an art instructor through the Summer Rise program. For her, it was an extremely rewarding and enjoyable experience, and she would recommend the program to others. “Though I do not plan on majoring in art, skills from this experience such as communication, management, organization and presentation can be applied in a variety of career fields, which will definitely help in the future,” Huang said.
Not everyone has the chance to get a job or internship over the summer, but volunteer work is another option. Students can still get experience working and find their career paths through unpaid work.
The Shady Grove Medical Center seeks out volunteers to reach out to those in need and give back to the community. Volunteer opportunities are available year-round as well. Junior Hannah Shapiro volunteers at the medical center weekly and feels that the work has helped decide on a career in the medical field. “I feel like it is definitely rewarding I can sometimes see the smiles from patients, like when I help them out I can see how much easier I make it on them. The nurses [are happy] when I help them out as opposed to me not volunteering there,” Shapiro said.
