Ican make you a root beer float, a Brown Cow, a mint chocolate chip milkshake, a banana split, or a strawberry sundae. I can remember how much your radishes cost, scan the UPC codes of all your cereal boxes, and bag your food in less than three minutes. I can change diapers, teach songs, play kickball, and generally keep your kid -- of any age -- occupied for every summer day. I can take your lunch order, make your salad, get your food and drinks, and I can even act happy through it all.
But despite all these wonderful skills that I've developed over the past several years, next summer, I want a fresh, new job. Go figure.
Woefully, I have to spend this, my only summer at Dartmouth, looking for that job. Just thinking about this fact really messes up my plans; I wanted a calm, unstressful fourth term in my suicidal sequence of six quarters taking classes.
However, it is not the time spent upstairs in Collis that really bothers me; it is the combination of a lot of other things. For example, while I have no idea what I want my junior summer to be, I am nearly positive about what I don't want it to be, i.e., spending time in any industry that comes to campus to recruit. Now, don't get me wrong -- I have nothing against corporate recruiting. In fact, I wish I could find a job that way; I'd love to have frequent and easily accessible interviews right here on campus. But I am just not interested in working for big corporations.
And it really bugs me that nearly everyone else seems to be on the ball, with a defined goal in mind. How many people have you seen walking around in navy suits and pumps, with little gold earrings surrounding a head of tidy, pinned-up hair? Those students know what they want, or they have some idea, and, admittedly, I get a bit envious of that, especially since I can barely even motivate myself enough to finish my resume.
The worst thing about the summer job search, though, is the fact that it has important implications for my future livelihood. Shouldn't I be looking for a job in my field of interest? And just what is that, I wonder. Heck, if I can't figure out what to do for the summer, how can I possibly decide what to do with the rest of my life?
The truth is, I will continue to look for a job, with salary and geographical location being two of the primary factors in my quest. I will leave the option of graduate school open, and I think I might even go to law school, like everyone else.
My friend tells me that I am being childish in my subconscious refusal to claim a particular area of interest, but I think that I am just being honest. After all, I would love to have an answer; I certainly don't want to wind up the same old confused Friendly's worker next summer. For now, I just want to be hired to do a job in which I can learn something new and interesting. So, I guess I'll just keep on looking. And maybe I'll find something worthwhile.
