what would be best summer activity for hs sophmore daughter

Parent Cafe
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<p>Hi, this is the first time I am posting but have periodicaly read the forums and realize this is a good source of information.</p>

<p>My daughter is currently a sophmore and is an A student taking the honors classes at her school. She did fairly well in her "practice" PSAT's this year. She will begin taking AP classes next year. She is interested in creative writing and wants to become an editor. Thus, she is currently an editor in her school paper and periodically submits articles that are published in the school paper. She is interested in Columbia University, Brown or Boston College. As she is nearing 16, I have begun pushing her towards getting a job and doing more steady volunteer work. She has done sporadic stints for some hospital events and also done some fund raising for diabetes association. So my question is what should she do this summer? Should she volunteer at the local library, as this is more related to her interests, is this viewed well? Should she get a job, what kind? We live in a suburban area so there are not many choices other than, retail, restaurants and camp counselors. I have asked her to write to the editor of a local paper (really the next large town 25 miles away) to see if they have any internships. I believe this is more of a practice in contacting people than anything as it does not look as though they have an intership program. Your suggestions are welcomed.</p>

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<p>Seriously, it doesn’t matter. As long as she doesn’t goof off all summer, she’ll be fine. That said…</p>

<p>Any chance she can be a “stringer?” When I was in high school back in the Iron Age, the local paper sometimes ran articles about what was happening in high schools. Sometimes, they would ask students to contribute. Other times, kids would write the articles and submit them for possible publication. </p>

<p>Now, our local paper–VERY local–pays $75 per article. Many of the articles are written by young people interested in journalism. This wouldn’t be a full time job…just something “extra.” </p>

<p>I have a funny story about internships. A friend’s son wanted to be a journalist. A relative on a city newspaper’s staff “hired” him as a summer “intern.” This consisted in large part of getting him a staff pass so he could get into the building. The relative gave him some mundane tasks to do, but told him he should tell the reporters that he didn’t have enough work to keep him busy and he would be glad to do whatever he could to help. He got very busy and eventually had to say “no” to some of the work. </p>

<p>Well, someone he turned down went storming into the managing editor’s office and complained because the relative had been given an intern and he hadn’t. The next thing he knew, the relative was called on the carpet. The editor said that he did not recall authorizing this intern and asked how much he was being paid. Relative said nothing–he just wants the experience and would really, really like to have a by-line. </p>

<p>Editor thought this was a great idea. He gave the kid the chance to write an op-ed piece. Said piece was picked up by a news service and ran in hundreds of papers throughout the US. It became the kid’s first important “clip.” Kid had great summer. </p>

<p>The NEXT year, the paper had a formal internship program. It was inundated with applications. Kid would never have gotten one since it was now so competitive. However, he DID get a MORE competitive internship based largely on the op-ed piece and the glowing rec of the managing editor. </p>

<p>Point of story: your D should not ask if there is an internship program, but rather whether she could volunteer at the paper for the experience. (That is assuming she doesn’t NEED to work for spending $.) </p>

<p>I would also suggest that your D search fastweb and other sources for writing/essay contests. There are many. Getting recognition could help.</p>

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<p>If her interest is in writing I can’t think of a better place for her than to volunteer at the library. If an intership at the local paper was available that would be a great option as well. Perhaps she could do both part time?That would show deep interest in a particular area, which is what colleges like C,B,BC are interested in. I recommend she also do some prep over the summer for the real PSAT next year, as attaining NMerit Finalist rank is a BIG plus for highly competative colleges.</p>

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<p>Brown University has an outstanding summer school program for high school students. Usually the program offers several writing courses. Harvard also has an excellent Secondary School Program (Harvard SSP), but the composition courses offered may be a bit too intense. Journalism courses are not as intense, however. Both offer financial aid, if needed. Volunteering at a library has little to do with writing, typically; in fact, unless library science is your daughter’s passion, I would not do it to satisfy a desire to write. Stanford University also has a wonderful summer program for high school students.</p>

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<p>Just noticed that CC (this site) is looking for a junior news editor. Maybe that would be of interest?</p>

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<p>When my DDs were that age, one took Driver’s Ed and lifeguard training, was a CIT at a Y camp and worked at the Gap. (Lifeguarding is a great skill for college employment.)</p>

<p>Next DD went to Ireland on a 5 week program and when she came home she went back to work at her dance school.</p>

<p>Both read many, many books on their summer reading lists and wrote journals to keep track of what they read.</p>

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<p>Start a blog.</p>

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<p>My D has worked as a volunteer at local day camps for the past two summers. She also volunteers at our library. I know you said your D was thinking about doing that, so I have some advice. Our librarian told me that they get well over a hundred hs students who volunteer at the library, and that it is sometimes hard finding anything for them to do. Our library has a program for teens called TAC (I think it stands for Teen Advisory Committee or Council, but I’m not sure). My D is a part of that, and those kids attend meetings once a month to discuss ways of letting teens know what services are available at the library. They also help out with library-sponsored events, especially those involving younger kids (crafts, storytelling, shows, etc.). While this doesn’t involve any writing, it is more fun than shelving books which is what most of the other voluneers are stuck doing. This is not a time-consuming activity for her, but she enjoys it. To tell the truth, she is much more involved over the summer than during the school year as her her after school sports tend to conflict with library meetings. Luckily, they are understanding and have let her stay in the group.</p>

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<p>There is nothing wrong and a lot right with her getting a job. The restaurant and retail industries are excellent first jobs for kids. Many lessons are learned working at these types of places. She will earn her own money and still have time to volunteer.</p>

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<p>What does she want to do?</p>

<p>Really, should this decision be based on what you anticipate a college will like on her resume? Does she want to learn a new skill? Is she on fire to volunteer somewhere (one of the most interesting political years in decades…is she passionate about a candidate)? Does she want to be more independent and feel the pride of earning a paycheck…let her find a job.</p>

<p>Is anyone else wondering if we are guiding our youth into becoming a bit to eager to please…afraid to strike out in a direction different from the crowd or adult expectations?</p>

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<p>I agree with Rhumbob…what does the daughter want to do? Maybe I’m misinterpreting this OP’s post, but it sounds like the parent is trying to figure out what this child should do this summer so it will look good on college applications. It is my opinion that this is looking at the situation backwards. The student should find something to do that is of interest to HER. If that happens to be a volunteer activity…fine. If not…that’s fine too. </p>

<p>One of our kids went to a summer camp for that summer. The other worked part time as a lifeguard. </p>

<p>As mentioned, some kids love having a job…and I think it does teach responsibility both for job work, and for money use. She could work part time and volunteer a few hours a week. </p>

<p>I don’t think there is a “best” summer activity…I think there are a lot of options. I will say…have her start looking for a job SOON. Many college students will be coming home in March and looking for summer work. She should try to just beat the college crowd. Also, in some places it is harder for 16 year olds to find jobs…so looking earlier than later should help.</p>

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<p>Perhaps she can find a summer job or volunteer position that she could write about somewhere else (magazines, trade based journals, etc Readers Digest. Look at the book “Writers Market” in your local bookstore to see what kind of magazines pay for which type of articles.) Camp counselors can provide a wealth of info for a “fictional” piece, as can many other jobs that deal with interacting with the public. I used to get tons of ideas for cartoons from everyday situations. Good luck</p>

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<p>show deep interest in a particular area? she should do these things because she likes them, not because they will look good on an app.</p>

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<p>Check around your state for an summer enrichment program where the kids stay over at a college. My D did one after her sophomore year (she is a science buff) and it really sharpened her interest in neuroscience. Plus it gives the kids a taste of “college.”</p>

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<p>^^Bard College, Young Writers Program, in residence in the dorms for 2 or 3 weeks – my D enjoyed this 5 years ago. I hope it still exists. It had a wonderful name that included the phrase “Language and Thought.” There might be similar style h.s.-age workshops in other colleges around the country.</p>

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<p>Thank you for all the great replies. Everything seems so much complicated and competitive now. While I understand that she should do what she likes, I would also like to nudge her in the direction of having a valuable experience that will also help her college application. When I was that age, these things did not really matter. No one ever asked me about my part-time job during college interviews. Anyhow, I believe a job, is a good start as it teaches responsibility and one thing I learned from my first job , was that I wanted to go to college so that I would have options and not have to work there forever. I will also have her look into the TASP program which looks interesting. BTW I had her read about the intern at the newspaper, hopefully it will motivate her to take the initiative and see if she can find a place at the local paper.
Thank you!</p>

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<p>Count me in as another who thinks the best route is getting a job. Whether or not the job is remotely related to what she wants to do, it will help her grow as a person. Did you ever meet a former waitress who was a bad tipper? Or a former McDonald’s employee who was rude to fast food workers? It does a college bound student a lot of good - esp. if she has grown up with any degree of privilege - to go to work with people who will likely never leave Walmart or make much above minimum wage.</p>