College students who want to relax during the summer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate how society has become. I was reading books from the early 1900s and UMC kids would spend every summer in HS and college relaxing and doing nothing. I wish my children could have that.

I hardly doubt that. Both my husband and i worked summers in HS and College. Its partly for money but mainly for work experience. (He had to work for money).

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure exactly where I land on this because I would need a lot more info. But I do want to relate the following:

I worked really hard every summer off in college and grad school. I had jobs, internships, volunteer work. I worked on a presidential campaign. I worked on campus and off campus, plus picked up tutoring gigs and taught test prep classes. I also took extra classes in the summer before my junior and senior year because I changed my major and still wanted to graduate on time. I never once had a relaxed or aimless summer from the age of about 16 on.

And I regret it. At this point I've gotten over it (I'm in my 40s now), but in my late 20s and early 30s I hit a point of serious burnout and realized that back when my friends had been having some aimless, relaxed summers in college, they'd been accomplishing something important, too. At the time I'd felt like that was a waste, that I needed to hustle if I was going to achieve my goals. But I could have done much, much less and still accomplished what I wanted. I did drive myself mildly crazy and in retrospect a lot of my efforts were due to intense anxiety over money (I mostly self-funded school) and my future. I think I would have benefited from taking at least one of those summers and just cutting myself some slack. Work a part-time job at a bookstore, spend the rest of the time reading, hiking, and going out with friends. This is what I would advise to most college students trying to figure how to make the most of that time. I know it's trite, but college really is about "finding yourself" to some degree. And being laser focused on career goals is not a great way to find yourself.

Cut your college kids a break. I think I would encourage them to do something with their summer, even if it's just read some classic novels or take a writing class. But I don't think it's a big deal if they don't want to spend their summer working a career-focused job or padding their resumes or whatever. They have plenty of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate how society has become. I was reading books from the early 1900s and UMC kids would spend every summer in HS and college relaxing and doing nothing. I wish my children could have that.

I hardly doubt that. Both my husband and i worked summers in HS and College. Its partly for money but mainly for work experience. (He had to work for money).

Pp is describing a time where a UMC boy would show up at Princeton, take an entrance exam and then enroll and graduate into whatever job they wanted with zero experience. Of course poor kids at that time dropped out of high school to work full time, so not a time of relaxation for everyone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate how society has become. I was reading books from the early 1900s and UMC kids would spend every summer in HS and college relaxing and doing nothing. I wish my children could have that.

My dad spent his summers working in a factory and doing road crew work, respectively. This was in the mid 1950s. He went to an Ivy League school. Then again, he was just regular MC, not UMC so I guess he wasn’t one of the lucky ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um, I would not be concerned. I would think they had their priorities straight. But then I am not one of those who buys into the whole DC striver thing either. I have worked hard and continuously since I was 15 since I had no choice, and that's just the way it is and I've survived, but I'm not such a fool as to think that's the ideal. The notion that lives only have worth insofar as they're spent working to create wealth and value for other people is pretty twisted when you think about it.

I think a college student’s priorities should include preparing themselves so they are in a position to put a roof over their heads and food on the table by the time they graduate, and maybe even contributing financially to the costs of their own upkeep and education to relieve some of the burden from their parents who are making significant sacrifices to afford their tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure exactly where I land on this because I would need a lot more info. But I do want to relate the following:

I worked really hard every summer off in college and grad school. I had jobs, internships, volunteer work. I worked on a presidential campaign. I worked on campus and off campus, plus picked up tutoring gigs and taught test prep classes. I also took extra classes in the summer before my junior and senior year because I changed my major and still wanted to graduate on time. I never once had a relaxed or aimless summer from the age of about 16 on.

And I regret it. At this point I've gotten over it (I'm in my 40s now), but in my late 20s and early 30s I hit a point of serious burnout and realized that back when my friends had been having some aimless, relaxed summers in college, they'd been accomplishing something important, too. At the time I'd felt like that was a waste, that I needed to hustle if I was going to achieve my goals. But I could have done much, much less and still accomplished what I wanted. I did drive myself mildly crazy and in retrospect a lot of my efforts were due to intense anxiety over money (I mostly self-funded school) and my future. I think I would have benefited from taking at least one of those summers and just cutting myself some slack. Work a part-time job at a bookstore, spend the rest of the time reading, hiking, and going out with friends. This is what I would advise to most college students trying to figure how to make the most of that time. I know it's trite, but college really is about "finding yourself" to some degree. And being laser focused on career goals is not a great way to find yourself.

Cut your college kids a break. I think I would encourage them to do something with their summer, even if it's just read some classic novels or take a writing class. But I don't think it's a big deal if they don't want to spend their summer working a career-focused job or padding their resumes or whatever. They have plenty of time.

+1 the next time they’ll be able to take a month to relax, they’ll be retired. Let them enjoy youth before everything is about their careers because they have decades of that ahead of them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate how society has become. I was reading books from the early 1900s and UMC kids would spend every summer in HS and college relaxing and doing nothing. I wish my children could have that.

I hardly doubt that. Both my husband and i worked summers in HS and College. Its partly for money but mainly for work experience. (He had to work for money).

So you and your husband are over 100 years old? Since you were working in HS and college in the early 1900's?? Where were you when the Titanic sank?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you'd be concerned about this, why?

I just don't think doing nothing for 3 months is a healthy way to live. Most people I know who are living that was are deeply unhappy unless they party all the time which is also not great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you'd be concerned about this, why?

I just don't think doing nothing for 3 months is a healthy way to live. Most people I know who are living that was are deeply unhappy unless they party all the time which is also not great.

And, I'm not hung up on my kid working someplace prestigious-work part time someplace with fun people. I grew up in a beach town, work wasn't bad and it kept us from being ridiculous all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate how society has become. I was reading books from the early 1900s and UMC kids would spend every summer in HS and college relaxing and doing nothing. I wish my children could have that.

I hardly doubt that. Both my husband and i worked summers in HS and College. Its partly for money but mainly for work experience. (He had to work for money).

So you and your husband are over 100 years old? Since you were working in HS and college in the early 1900's?? Where were you when the Titanic sank?

I lol’ed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate how society has become. I was reading books from the early 1900s and UMC kids would spend every summer in HS and college relaxing and doing nothing. I wish my children could have that.

I hardly doubt that. Both my husband and i worked summers in HS and College. Its partly for money but mainly for work experience. (He had to work for money).

So you and your husband are over 100 years old? Since you were working in HS and college in the early 1900's?? Where were you when the Titanic sank?

The bolded wasn't bolded when PP replied to it. I bolded it to point it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you'd be concerned about this, why?

I just don't think doing nothing for 3 months is a healthy way to live. Most people I know who are living that was are deeply unhappy unless they party all the time which is also not great.

NP. This summer DD had almost all of May, and all of June, July, and August off from college. During that time she took 3 online classes that her school accepted, worked at a one-month paid “externship” at her school, then came home and got back two jobs she had in high school, which unfortunately only add up to about ~25 hours per week. She also worked with her school’s freshman orientation group and got paid for that.

She is idle most of the day.

[Anonymous]

DS graduated in May and have been goofing off with friends and playing online games, he got a job lined up but won't start until Sept. Figure it's his last time for slacking off before starting his 40+ years of working.

[Anonymous]

My dc plans to FIRE, so hopefully it won’t be 30 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, I wouldn't be concerned. I wouldn't allow it. They wouldn't be welcome to "relax" at my home, and I wouldn't pay for anything for them during that time, nor would I pay for their schooling. That's just simply not allowed. We all wish we could relax for a few months out of the year.

What if they had depression and refused to work?

If they're too depressed to work they're too depressed to go back to school.