F or many college students, the joys of summer are negated by missing friends, following parents' rules and above all, working. University students deal with the necessity of summer employment in a variety of ways and are presented with a variety of outcomes.
Finding the job itself can be a daunting task which proves easier for some students than others.
For a few, such as rising third-year Engineering student Adam Beerman, the search began long ago. Beerman said he filled out applications during spring break for approximately 10 different jobs. However, his attempts only resulted in an offer to be a traveling salesman for Eckerds, and even this arrangement ended up falling through.
"They retracted their offer when they realized I was in college," Beerman said.
Instead, Beerman now works as a clerk in the radiology department of West Boca Medical Center, where his father is also employed.
Finding work through personal contacts is common for other students as well.
Rising second-year College student Nicole Luna said her tennis coach offered her a position as assistant tennis coach at the day camp where she had taken lessons. Rising third-year College student Emily Dunn also found a position at a camp. She said she was offered her job at a Jewish day camp in Charlottesville because she worked there as a Sunday school teacher during the school year.
Other students made use of networking as well, but did so closer to home. Rising second-year College student Danny Rubin said his cousin helped him get a job as a waiter at Cinema Café, a movie theater that also serves food. Rising third-year College student David Rogge said his friend got him an interview at Starbucks.
"She told me she could get me an interview with the manager, and she did," Rogge said. "That afternoon I was in doing paperwork and beginning training."
Other students, however, were not as fortunate in their job search and found their quests took far longer.
Rising second-year College student Samantha Klein said she began looking for a summer job after returning to Northern Virginia by searching classifieds and looking for stores with signs stating they needed employees.
"I really wanted to try waitressing," Klein said. "But almost every restaurant's manager said they weren't hiring people just for the summer. I even went to Silver Diner, ate there for my birthday and filled out an application while I ate only to be met by the manager at the end of my meal who thanked me for my time, but proceeded to tell me they only were only interested in hiring year-round employees."
Klein was eventually offered a hostessing job at Bennigan's, but it turned out to be unbearable.
"The hours were horrible, the smoke-filled bar was terrible and the pay was horrendous, so I quit and continued my search," she said.
Klein ended up landing her dream job as a junior editor at a research corporation by merely faxing in her resume to the company.
In addition to Klein, Dunn also found a job she loves, and one that will hopefully help lead her toward a future career.
"I want to be a Rabbi, so any work within the Jewish community ... is definitely worthwhile," Dunn said.
Unlike Klein and Dunn, most students said their summer jobs had little to do with their personal interests. However, they said this did not concern them.
According to Rubin, being a waiter is teaching him good skills and he believes he has plenty of time to intern in the future. On a somewhat different note, Beerman said he would have preferred an internship more related to his goal of being an aerospace engineer, but is content working at the hospital. Luna also holds similar beliefs to Beerman.
"I think after one's first year it's nice to go back home and chill with old friends and just make some money," she said. "We'll have plenty of time to worry about our resumes and job experience later."
Instead of resume building, many students said there were other important perks to their summer jobs.
"The people I work with are around my age and friendly," Rubin said. "It makes my job enjoyable."
Rogge also said his coworkers made his job more pleasant, as well as the advantage of receiving free drinks while working.
Other students were placed in job situations they found less pleasing.
According to Luna, although she enjoyed working at the tennis camp, she wished the weather conditions could be altered.
"It's insanely hot ... way too hot to be outside on the court for six hours," she said.
Klein has also had several unpleasant working experiences. Aside from her current daily commute of one and a half hours each way, her most difficult experience occurred when she was still working at Bennigan's.
"This guy comes up to me as I'm hostessing and asks me if my name is Denise," Klein said. She said the man continued to ask her questions, and winded up insisting that he had met her the previous weekend in New York. Attempting to please her customer, who wouldn't take no for an answer, Klein had to play along with the situation.
Dunn said that she has had unusual experiences with campers as well.
"I have one camper who likes to shake his rear in people's faces, which is always joyous," she said.
Despite the wide variety of unusual experiences University students may have to endure while working, most students said the positive aspects of their job outweighs the negative ones and make their experiences worthwhile.Students have learned a variety of skills, ranging from basic task-related training to necessary people skills, none of which will go unused in the future.
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