<p>Throughout my life, people in the work force have told me to appreciate the breaks I have as a student (winter, summer, etc.), and now I understand. I'm an incoming sophomore transfer to Georgetown who wants to enter asset management, and to get a leg up in work experience, I interned full-time (12/hr) at a business valuation firm this summer. No doubt, I enjoyed it and learned A LOT. The experience definitely has given me far better financial and business sense.</p>
<p>However, I'm starting to feel that I'm wasting my youth. The internship basically taking my whole summer, and even though I manage to see my friends, I haven't been able to do a lot of anything else like vacations. I've definitely suckered into the "get work experience asap" trend, and I feel I'm letting my insecurity of the future take away the few summer breaks I still have left. I'll probably try for a part-time unpaid one next summer.</p>
<p>Anyways, my main question to you guys is: do you feel the benefits of early work experience outweigh the enjoyment of relaxing and stress-free life in your last few summer breaks?</p>
<p>That is a very personal question that only you can answer. Some people get great satisfaction out of working long hours and seeing a good work product, but others get no satisfaction from that, and most people fall somewhere in between.</p>
<p>If you are having these questions, you may need to ask yourself if you are going down the right path. Since it seems like you had a decent internship this summer, it looks like you are probably on the track to get a pretty good AM job after graduation, and at that point, you will be working similar hours for a few years. I’m sure you know that you will make great money, so is that something you are willing to do?</p>
<p>A few of my friends are fully aware that they are sacrificing their 20s for the sake of their future. Two, in particular, have goals of retiring by age 35, and they are both on pace to have the money to do so, but it is at the expense of most enjoyment of their youth.</p>
<p>Don’t let anybody tell you what you should do or think, because everybody has their own opinion. The people who are in the industry will probably tell you it’s worthwhile, and the people who aren’t will probably tell you it’s not. What I will tell you is don’t do any of that unpaid garbage … if you already had a paid internship, it would be silly to go backward and donate your time and effort to a company that makes big money and can obviously afford to pay you. If you want an alternative experience, do something unrelated to your field, and see how you like it. That might help tell you what you want to do.</p>
<p>Last summer and this summer I have been working full time (40 hrs. a week) at my internship. I have given myself a 1 or 2 week cushion between ending school, the internship, and starting school again so I have time to breath before moving on. That being said, I make an effort not to stay longer hours than I need to, I turn off my pager on my days off, and I take advantage of the paid time off that I am given. I am glad to get work experience, but I make a conscious effort to ensure that I am still able to enjoy life as a young adult not yet entered into the workforce.</p>
<p>For me, life is short and as such I want to enjoy it as much as I can on a daily basis. Balance is key in order to not waste away your 20s.</p>
<p>I think you’re doing the right thing by getting experience early. I couldn’t do this and have suffered getting a job. Took longer than I expected but got one. Anyway, I suggest on getting as many internships as possible during summer breaks and enjoying the other breaks during the year (winter, spring break). You could even plan a vacation with friends for spring break. Manage your time and go out on weekends, just don’t mess up your grades.</p>
<p>On one hand, gaining more experience than your peers could land you a better job faster, and you could potentially enjoy your income while your peers wish they hadn’t “wasted their youth” in a different way.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you never have as much flexibility to do what you want to do as you do right now. As another poster said, it is a personal situation. No one can tell you if you’re wasting your youth. We will all view this differently.</p>
<p>I always try to find a balance in work/career and my personal free time. I do see the importance in gaining experience early, but I am also afraid that I’ll regret not spending my college years, where I’m young and still energetic as heck, in a firm or my nose in a book.</p>
<p>I definitely have experienced this already. I completely regret spending my first year in college trying to get the best grades ever… because I missed out on so many cool fun things that now I wish I had participated in. </p>
<p>IMO, try to find a balance. You could request a Friday and/or Monday off and take a weekend trip somewhere. It’s a short but sweet relaxing trip. I believe by working yourself out too much, you might burn out earlier as well.</p>
It’s a short but sweet relaxing trip. I believe by working yourself out too much, you might burn out earlier as well.</p>