Teens Share Advice About What To Do This Summer

By Sonia Weiser, Guest Writer

At the start of every high schooler's year, summer feels like the holy grail: just out of reach and the only reason to keep pushing forward. Those three months of carefree time fills the dreams of SAT taking, AP preparing, overly stressed out students. But once summer comes upon them, it seems like everyone is out to get ahead. Goodbye fantasies of hammocks and lemonade. Hello long days at Harvard Extension and working in research labs. Like the curious teen that I am, I decided to

find out whether intellectual summers were the way to go.

My first interviewee? Tufts sophomore Abha Gallewale. Her main advice? "If you spend a summer doing lame internships (because the best ones go to college students) you get to be on top of the list when an interesting one comes along." During the summers before her junior and senior years, Abha worked as an intern at community TV stations. But the long hours were worth it. The summer before starting at Tufts, she interviewed for a job at a marketing company. "Even though I had no college experience, I got the job." Ten months later, she is still working there, making money and getting real-world experience like occasionally going to conferences, award shows and just "enjoying the perks of corporate life."

Like Abha, Kelly Miao, a high school senior, found that her internship was worth it. "I'm a nerd," she admits, so "working in the lab was ultimate fun." Not only did she get published by the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, "which leads to a lot of great perks," she was also able to meet Nobel Laureate Carol Greider. "But in summary, I believe that the work I conducted during my summer break was worth every minute."

Every good article needs an opposing argument. Luckily, Kevin, another senior, thinks differently. Rather than donning the lab coat and goggles, Kevin worked at a summer camp. When asked if he thought that his less intense summer hindered him in the college application process, he was unsure. "You always hear about people doing some science internship at Harvard, and suddenly helping five year olds with legos doesn't feel important enough." Still, he does not regret his time spent at camp, and is excited about the prospects of college.

Two other potential summer plans? Working for money and taking classes for credit. "You need money for college more than you'd think," explains Vanderbilt student Rachel Townzen. So her advice is simple. "Have a job now, worry about taking classes later. Save summer classes for classes you don't want to take when you already have a full course load," rather than taking ones before stepping through the ivy gates.

Up at bat to oppose Townzen, is Jennifer Leavey, a student at Lesley University. During the summer before her senior year, Leavey took classes at Harvard Extension. "The experience was one I wouldn't trade. It helped me a lot overall." Whether it helped her get into college is hard to say, but having the credit let her skip prerequisites ("if you take the classes judiciously") and was a great asset when she transferred. Another benefit: "taking college classes gave me confidence and it was a hell of a good time. I got to take a class with the editor of the Harvard Review!"

Having done pre-college programs myself, I have often regretted not going to a more traditional summer camp. Although I learned new skills and became interested in new hobbies, over the last few summers, I did not accomplish the "nothingness" that I desired. So final take home message: while internships and classes can open doors in the future, and jobs can bring you a much needed income, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking the summer off to act like a kid. But whatever it is that you decide to do, make sure you enjoy it. Otherwise, when you see your first back to school commercial, you'll look back at the last few weeks and feel like they were wasted and like you need to do it all over again.

-Sonia Weiser is a soon to be graduate of Lexington High School in Mass. and plans on attending New York University to study international relations and photography in hopes of becoming a photo-journalist. For the last four years, she has worked on her school's yearbook and in her final year, became co-editor in chief.