I’ve got to admit, I was caught a bit off guard when it was suggested that we do summer editions of The Minaret. What could I possibly write about that people will care about when we aren’t at school where we are forced to care about the outside world? There is one thing at nearly every college student experiences during the four or more years we spend in school: the dreaded summer job.
I consider myself a veteran when it comes to summer jobs, since I’ve worked every summer since I was in high school. As many who know me or have visited my Facebook profile, I am a well experienced retail employee, having worked on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and through every other shopping holiday for the last five years. Many of you might think that the summer time would be the calmest time of year to work in retail. In many respects it is, however I worked at Michael’s Crafts in wonderful New Tampa. You see, during the summer the stay at home moms and their small children come out to brighten up your day.
If the small screaming children don’t bother you, don’t worry brave soldier, there’s more! At least once a week there is a seemingly endless truck full of unstackable, small, odd shaped boxes containing easily broken objects that were packaged by small children in Taiwan that were paid as much in a day as you make an hour. Oh yes, I forgot to mention the great pay. All retail jobs come with the stipulation that you be willing to do an inordinate amount of work for how much you are being paid.
Every year as I would get into the habit of working 40 hour weeks of shifts that were not convenient for doing anything but sleep and watch late night TV, I would be reminded of my upcoming annual review. The annual review is where you sit down with the store manager and discuss how wonderful the past year has been and then you get a pat on the back and another 35 cents added to your hourly pay. Glamorous, eh?
Anyone could see why this summer I was determined to change things up a bit and try out this thing called an internship. I began my search early in the year, hoping to be able to step out into my new job as soon as I was done with school. Yeah right. My first attempt at attaining an internship ended up being a two-month long game of dangle the carrot in front of the rabbit. Fast forward to two weeks before the end of the semester and I was still no closer to getting away from my retail palace than I was two months prior.
At this point I was desperate. I was asking everyone I knew for help in finding what might as well have been the Holy Grail. Leaving no stone unturned, I began to search the online job postings, hoping that someone would still have an opening for a summer internship. The pickings were quite slim, most of the jobs left were for software development, which I’d rather stab my brains out than do. Finally, I came across one for a network communications intern. After reading the job description, I figured I could see myself doing that for a few months, so I sent my resume.
Two days later I received a call for an interview, and was offered a position two weeks later. After a thorough check of my mental, physical, and spiritual states, my background, present, future, references from past and current neighbors, and a blood, urine, and stool sample, I was officially hired! I couldn’t wait to start my new life in Corporate America.
Since I have only just completed my second week, I don’t have much to report just yet, but I promise to keep you posted in the next edition. Until then, keep enjoying your summer and take a trip to the beach for me, bro!