William Shakes-peare once said, "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves."
Basically, Willy's quote is acknowledging the fact that if you want something, you're going to have to work hard for it and go after it yourself (unless you have connections, of course, in which case you're ahead of the game and very lucky).
Because of this, it absolutely boggles my mind why many college students choose to spend their summers basking in the sun when they could be basking in, well, the glow of fluorescent lights.
The point of this rant is that an internship is quite possibly the most valuable real-world experience you can have during your college career.
I would have loved to have written a "Treasure your time at Penn State" senior column or a crazy "The best moments I won't remember at Penn State" column, but I figured it was more beneficial for you to read something that might actually be worthwhile to you. My advice, which comes in two parts, is get involved and get experience.
For those of you that have done this or are currently doing it, I applaud you.
You're the ones who are going to be holding top positions in your field some day. For those of you who haven't done this, you should probably do something about it now while you still can.
If you haven't already, join clubs and activities related to your major.
If this doesn't excite you (I don't know why it wouldn't since your major is most likely what you're going to be doing with your life), participate in an activity that interests you and offers opportunities for leadership positions, such as a Thon committee, an IM sports team, or even a fraternity or sorority.
Volunteer work is also a good thing. Heck, join clubs both related and unrelated to your major! Doing this shows that you're a well-rounded person.
But don't get involved in an activity just to have something to put on your résumé --you should have a genuine interest in what you're doing.
Now that you're involved, get experience by applying for internships.
Internships are not only valuable in that they give you the closest experience to holding a position in your field without actually being an employee, they can also show you that you may not want to go into that field, or at least that aspect of your field, after all.
For example, if you had asked me what I wanted to do with my life a year ago, I would have said "women's magazine journalism." Last summer, after reporting for a women's magazine for three months and helping the magazine's copy editors for one day out of those three months during my internship, I realized that I liked copy editing better than reporting.
I've been copy editing at The Daily Collegian since the fall and have loved every minute of it.
This summer I have a copy editing internship at a newspaper, so I'll see how that goes.
If the newspaper part doesn't work out, maybe I'll end up copy editing at a women's magazine.
If it weren't for my experience at the Collegian, though, both as a reporter and a copy editor, I don't know how I would have landed either of my internships.
Good grades are important, but most potential employers want to know what you've been doing to prepare for a future in your field.
I'll always remember what the managing editor of the magazine said during our interview when she was considering me for the internship: "So many people come in here wanting to intern, but they have no published clips or experience.
What does that tell me?"
Even if you discover that you want to focus on something else in the future during your internship, you will at least have a variety of experiences in your field to put on your résumé.
And that's still just as beneficial as having focused on only one thing throughout your internships.
In conclusion, as far as marketing yourself in your field, being experienced is good; being inexperienced is bad.
If even one person has learned something from this column, I'm happy.
If not, hey, it's your life. No matter how you feel about fate, only you can control your own destiny. So don't rely on the stars -- reach for them.
