After some overtly excited planning for a EuroTrip with my friend this summer, my family put the cap on me. I told my aunt about our awesome plans of traveling all around Europe and all the places we wanted to see. But my aunt just told me “you only have 4 summers before applying to grad school. Summer is the only time where you don’t have school work and you can dedicate all of your time to building on your hands-on skills”.
I often find myself fantasising about vacations and fun stuff, and sometimes worried thinking that I am not involved in enough things at school or the workforce. On the phone, I was planning a Euro Trip for the summer. But my aunt reminded me of something — that I only have a few summers left before I apply to grad school or want a job. This meant there were only about 3 – 4 times I would have the opportunity to have 4 months off school. This also meant I should use my time wisely. In the following years, I need to get experience; trying to get experience last minute will be impossible. But getting work experience doesn’t mean you can’t travel. And it doesn’t necessarily mean its costly. (more…)