Being home for the summer is always strange. It feels like an untethering from reality. I fall back on nostalgic notions, doing chores around home and trying to spend time with family. In between hanging with family, I work on remote internships, preparing for life post-graduation. But I don’t feel completely like an independent adult like at college. I don’t feel like a child either–just a baby adult floating in between youth and adult functioning.
This summer I am a manager at Culver’s. I’ve been at my Culver’s for almost 6 years now and enjoy working with my crew. I’m excited to take on a bigger role and help out. Also, I really love bow ties, so this is a great excuse in obtaining some fun ones. I’ve been told I stepped up the bow tie game for the other managers. To be honest, being a manager isn’t much different from when I was a crew leader, except that now I have some office work to do. As a crew leader, especially after I came back from college breaks, I would run the front and do basic guest handling. I am used to trying to maneuver crew members for optimal rushes. Of course things come up, but I typically can handle it.
I still have my proofreading internship with Shadoe publishing. I look over manuscripts, make edits, and send it back. Repeat. Pretty simple job, but I enjoy going through and fixing the nit-picky items or smoothing out sections. It’s funny, but I actually enjoy double-checking spacing, ellipses, and spellings. There’s nothing as satisfying as this.
I also am still in the beginning stages of another internship with a publishing company called 13th and Joan. I write some blog posts for them and help conduct interviews with clients. My role is still being figured out, so more info on this coming soon. Probably.
Because I like to stay busy, I also am working any odd projects the tech bar throws my way. We will see what they all have me do. So far, I have written an article on deciding on laptops for college, and I presented at the T3 conference, which focused on pedagogy and technology. It was fun, though I thought there would have been more students in attendance. Oh well. I learned some good tips about making websites more accessible for those who use programs to aid them in seeing what’s on a page as well as some recommendations about stress.
With everything I am involved in, summer and semester included, I have been receiving a lot of people’s reminders to live life. Everyone appears to be concerned that I am involved in too much and missing out on experiences. My own parents constantly check in with me, asking if I am burning myself out. I’m not. I like being involved in different things and remaining busy. When I am not doing something, I got stir crazy. It’s hard for me to just sit around. If I do, I have to read or knit. I know my limits. I have yet to reach them. I have turned down some other internships that popped up because I knew I already had a full plate. As much as I hate to say no, sometimes it’s unavoidable. I know everything I do will pay off in the future. In the meantime, I enjoy it and make it work between learning, earning money, and spending time with family. With most things in life, there is a precarious balancing. So far, I think I’ve got all the plates spinning in a decent equilibrium.
