Ideas for an Impactful Summer

Alternative ideas to consider if your summer internship gets canceled:

• Ask the organization if you can continue your internship by working remotely - perhaps they have projects that they could assign you.

• Approach an organization with the idea of creating a virtual internship.

• Consider a micro-internship or externship or shadowing experience.

• Participate in CEA’s virtual internships abroad (application deadline, May 1) or Global Experiences Virtuoso Virtual Internships Abroad (deadlines April 22 and May 1). You can apply for CCI’s internship funding to cover your costs.  Funding deadline May 8.  

• Work a summer job to earn money if that is possible in your community.

• Create your own project or innovative idea – something you’ve always wanted to do but never had time for.

• Listen to podcasts related to your potential career fields of interest to build your knowledge base about those fields. (For example; Glassdoor’s Top 10 Career Podcasts to Listen to This Year, Feedspot’s Top 20 Career Podcasts You Must Follow in 2020,  and PlayerFM’s Career Development Podcasts)

• Conduct research on Middlebury’s alumni database, Midd2Midd, and network to learn about career fields you might be interested in. Set up some informational interviews.

• Prep for virtual interviews. (Resources: Harvard Business School Online’s 9 Tips for Mastering Your Next Virtual Interview, Careerminds’ How to Successfully Prepare for a Virtual Interview)

• Explore CCI’s Resources for Choosing a Major.

• Answer questions and follow steps in CCI’s Self-Reflection Guide or Career Exploration Guide.

• Volunteer in your community (food shelves, create educational activities for children, help the elderly, volunteer for a non-profit) – perhaps these activities will need to be done remotely.

• Explore these ideas for Virtual Volunteering.

• Virtual Tutoring - children are home since schools are closed and many parents are juggling homeschooling with working from home.

• Volunteer to be an Education Assistant/Project Manager - help parents manage all the information coming in from the schools, teachers, and assignments.

• Get started on your senior independent research.

• Take an online class.

• Research graduate programs.

• Study for MCATs, LSATs, GREs, etc.

• Learn a new foreign language using online tools.

• Take online tutorials through LinkedIn Learning.

• Explore EdX or Coursera Courses.

• Harvard Business School Online - not just for those interested in business.

• Read for fun! Or delve deeply into into titles related to your interests. (e.g. 150 Reads for Women in Science) 

• Write your own book - you know you’ve always wanted to….

• Get Creative: Play music. Write songs. Write poetry. Create a documentary video. Build a Web site. Start a blog.  

• Start a journal: maybe a bullet journal (Resources: Medium’s The Productivity Subculture That Won’t Quit, Bullet Journal Setup For College Students)