<p>Hey guys, </p>
<pre><code> I have been reading these forums for quite awhile now and just never felt a real need to post as everything I ever had questions to I could find using the beloved search tool. But, finally the day has come where I have a more specific question.
Some background, I got out of the Marines in Dec. 2011 and started working on my associates Jan 2012. Here we are Feb. 2012 and I am 4 classes away from my associates degree (after this semester is completed) I plan to finish up all 4 of those classes during the summer and have already applied for the University of Houston and been accepted into their Petro program for the upcoming fall semester. I am using the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which basically gives me 36 months of free school and some extra cash for living expenses.
So here enters my problem. I am working full time, as well as school full time, and taking care of my 11 month old son along with trying to support my wife to where she does not have to work AS much, as she is a full time student as well. I am trying to complete my degree as fast as possible so I can start my career (and the GI BIll only pays for 36 months of school) and be a more proficient provider, however, I would love to work some summer internships, but those internships would delay an already, quite honestly, struggling family. So my question is if I were to skip out on the internships, would I be almost second rate to those graduates applying for jobs who already have internships under their belts. Or could my military service and the fact I would have graduated with many other obligations help me out in the hiring process?
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<p>Does UH offer summer PetE classes… a lot of other schools don’t.</p>
<p>But to answer your question, I would go for the internship. I think graduating without any experience will hurt you. I’m in somewhat of the same boat (vet, wife, kid, ch.33), and I can tell you the recruiters will love your military service, but are going to want to see some experience.</p>
<p>Look for paid summer internships. Clearly with a family, you need to stay in the same area but if you are in Houston, there should be a good chance to find something. Have you used some of your 36 months for the Community College or are you keeping it for the University of Houston? If the latter, you should be able to complete your degree in those 36 months without having to take summer classes and you would be able to take an internship.</p>
<p>Oil companies, particularly in Texas, love military experience. I worked as a roughneck on a rig in West Texas for the summer before I started my freshman year, and just mentioning ‘Marine Corps’ got me hired (they knew I would do what I’m told, not show up to work drunk/on drugs, etc). That said, I’d highly recommend doing something related to the industry before you graduate. I’m going to take summer classes this year to get the last of my calculus and get caught up on physics before the fall. Next summer I’ll try to get a real internship. Granted that I’m single and have a lot more freedom to go anywhere I need.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that when you get further along in your college education, summer classes in PETE courses can be hard to find, so the benefit of summer classes starts to fade away after you get the prereqs out of the way. You can make pretty good money working on a rig over there, and would give you a lot to talk about during an interview. However, you will be gone a lot to maximize your overtime. </p>
<p>Cliffnotes: Summer classes later on probably won’t speed up your graduation as much as you think (after this year), so accept that life will suck for a couple of years and find an internship if you can, Devil. In the end, it will pay off, and before you know it you’ll be graduating. That internship + picking up trash at 0200 behind the barracks (I was a single 0331) will put you ahead of almost everyone else if you play your cards right.</p>