Exploring other ways to spend our time this summer
By SABRINA FIGUEROA — sfigueroaavila@ucdavis.edu
When I started my third year at UC Davis, I told myself I’d grind to get an internship for summer 2025. It’s May, spring quarter is over in a month and all I’ve gotten are numerous rejection emails. Nothing is more dreadful than opening email after email to see the words “Thank you for your application! Unfortunately….”
Though the internship application season is not fully over yet (yes, there’s still time), many may be wondering if their lives and careers are over. I had the same thought, and it’s not worth panicking over. Summer is just time waiting to be filled — internships are not the only way to do that, nor are they the only ways to further your career, skills and experiences!
One obvious alternative is to take courses during the summer. Kill time by simply working on your degree, and maybe you can graduate early or take lighter course loads during upcoming quarters. UC Davis has both in-person and online options, and, if you’ve ever wondered what summer looks like in Davis, well…it’s hot. But on the bright side, the campus isn’t as plagued with bikers and pedestrians.
You can also just take classes for fun and try something new. Classes teach soft and hard skills that you can put on your resume, applications or apply to personal projects. Which, speaking of, are all great ways to fill your time as well.
Personal projects — like writing stories, making marketing campaigns for fake clients, creating zines and coding websites — help you build up your portfolio if you need it for your aspiring career. Most of the time, these projects are the easiest and cheapest ways to spend your time, and the best part is that they can be about anything you want.
After you build a good, lengthy portfolio, you can try freelancing to make a little money. It’s a great way to display your talent when bigger companies don’t give you the opportunity to, and you can put all of this experience on your resume for later jobs or internships. Or, you might like it so much that you decide to continue freelancing.
Another way to gain skills is by pursuing a certification. They range from Excel to data analytics to project management. If you think you can benefit from learning any of these skills that aren’t typically taught in your UC Davis courses, it could be a great use of your time this summer. It’s even better if you then apply these skills to a personal project to show employers in the future.
As a final option, you could get a local job or volunteer opportunity. It may not be directly applicable to your career path, but it can still offer you experiences and skills you could use in the future. And, it’s a great way to network with people. Any connection can lead you to your dream job — never say never.
Maybe none of this sounds appealing to you, and that’s okay. You can also just take a break this summer. The point is to spend your time doing what you want to do, whether it’s traveling, spending time with friends or prepping for the next internship application season. Don’t waste your time worrying about that internship you didn’t get — that’s already in the past. Once you’re in the summer and your time is free, simply enjoy it.
Written by: Sabrina Figueroa — sfigueroaavila@ucdavis.edu
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by The California Aggie.
