Internship in first college semester?

College Life
1

<p>I'm about to be a freshman at UMD this fall, and I was thinking that I would give myself a semester without working or getting an internship so that I would have free time in my transition to college life. However, I just learned about an opportunity to volunteer for the Obama campaign in Virginia (I think I'd be able to take the Metro there so it wouldn't be a big deal to get there from campus), which would be a really great career start considering I want to work in government. I think I'd only have to volunteer 15 hours a week, which I think I could fit into my schedule without much of a problem. If it helps to give context, here's my course schedule for next year:</p>

<p>Monday:
12:00-1:50 Intensive Arabic
3:30-6:00 Terrorism (Honors)</p>

<p>Tuesday:
12:30-1:45 Academic Writing (Honors)
2:00-3:15 Media Literacy
3:30-4:45 Honors Colloquium </p>

<p>Wednesday:
12:00-1:50 Intensive Arabic</p>

<p>Thursday:
12:30-1:45 Academic Writing
2:00-3:15 Media Literacy</p>

<p>Friday:
12:00-1:50 Intensive Arabic</p>

<p>So as you can see, I have mornings free every day and could easily do afternoons on Wednesday and/or Friday. So I think I could definitely make this work.</p>

<p>I'm just wondering if you guys think it'll be a bad idea to make this commitment for my first semester in college. Right now I'm leaning towards doing it (assuming I get the position, which I obviously might not) because it would be a good opportunity to get involved in politics and I want to start doing these internships as early as possible. I just wonder if it'll take away too much free time as I'm making a major transition in my life.</p>

<p>Did any of you work or do internships during your first semester of college? Do you think it was the right move? Does it sound like doing this internship would be a good decision for me?</p>

<p>Thanks so much for any advice you have :)</p>

2

<p>…bump…</p>

3

<p>where I go to school, it’s not uncommon to be doing internships before you start college. If it’s something you want to do, won’t cost you too much, and you can handle it then go ahead and do it.</p>

4

<p>getting to VA from CP can be a real pain in the ass on the Metro, just letting you know.</p>

5

<p>Depending on what type of government work you intend to pursue, the internship could be a bad idea. Unless you know you want to work for a definite political party, it is best to stay out of “party politics” associated stuff during college. Even doing things like joining the campus Democrats, or campus Republicans, could hurt you when it comes time to interview in certain government agencies. This comes from a friend whose dad was upper level State Dept, career foreign service, and an Ambassador. My friend also works for the gov, and advised my D of this before she started college because she also hopes to pursue a career in gov.</p>

6

<p>Wow, I hadn’t thought of that, thanks teachandmom - I’ll definitely look into that point. I’m hoping to eventually do more diplomacy-related stuff than domestic politics, so maybe it would be a good idea to steer clear of this.</p>

<p>Thanks for your feedback so far everybody :slight_smile: It sounds like this would probably work ok with my schedule (I’m ok with a fairly long commute to VA, I commuted to my hs so I’m used to the idea of it and I’d be sure to budget enough time for it, plus I could get work done on the metro so it wouldn’t be a problem) so I guess the main thing I have to think about is whether or not it would actually be good for my career.</p>

7

<p>I’m sure the Obama campaign will have an office somewhere in Maryland, probably near campus, if you really want to volunteer.</p>