So here are my wonderful problems:
Internship:
So apparenty my wonderful school thinks that in order to graduate that I should have to do an internship. I can see thir point. But what I don't get is that we (the students) have to pay the school full tuition so that we can go work somewhere for free! So this fall, I have to pay 1-2 thousand dollars just to do this!! I don't see the concept in that...but oh well...can't do anything about that. But my major problem is, trying to find an assistantship ( for all that don't know...assistantship = paid internship). Trying to find one is like trying to find a needle in a haystack! Hardly...no...no one around this area offers any. So I went around Marion and Herrin giving out my resume and a letter saying what I was looking for. I also threw in, that it would be nice to get an assistantship, because if I dont...here's my options (FYI: I only told them about the first one that I am about to explain)
1. Work forty hours a week for the internship and then have to work at my current postion on the weekends, so i total of at least 76 hours a week of working!! not looking forward to that at all!
2. Or I could take out a loan that would cover my expensives for the semester and just work at my internship and then have no life since I won't be able to do anything extra that much.
So either way that I go...in the end I will have no social life for the semester...what is a girl to do in this situation?? lol
But I am hopeful that one of the places that I went to yesterday will feel sorry for me and let me do have an assistantship!
Life in the Navy:
So as you all know, I am enlisted in the Navy and will be leaving for Great Lakes, IL for bootcamp in Jan. I know what you all are thinking, because I am thinking the same thing...It's going to be freezing up there and why are you going then and not when it is warmer?? If i could change my date to at least to when it is slightly warmer, believe me I would!! But anywho, thats not my problem that I am trying to figure out.
My current situation is trying to figure out if I should try and go Officer or not? When people hear this they automatically say that I should, since it would be a lot better than just going in enlisted. Believe me I know this! But as of right now, the jobs that I qualify for are not really what I want to do. And the job that I got when I go enlisted is what I want to do.
Another aspect is that, if I stay enlisted, there is a good chance that I can get my loans paid off that I have from school. The Officer program doesn't offer this. So from a finacial stand point, it is better to stay enlisted. Especailly if they will pay off the biggest loan that I have! But on the other hand, wondering what to do if they should happen not to pay them off?? Stay enlisted or try the Officer route? (that is if I get accepted to the program)
So for all that are still reading this, THANK YOU, for letting me get some things off of my chest. Besides these two things, my life is going pretty well right now. I have a trip planned to Chicago this weekend and then a trip to Florida in July. I can't wait to get away from this area for a while, just for a little break and not have to think about any thing.
So have a great day!
I personally vote for stay enlisted. Not just because I'm enlisted myself, but because I would never want to be an officer for several reasons:
ReplyDelete1) Lots of politics and game-playing. It's even snarkier than being enlisted. You will have your nose far, far up someone's ass at all times for the rest of your Navy career.
2) Tons more responsibility for not-a-whole-lot-more pay. Officers get "fired" first if something goes wrong in a division they're in charge of.
3) You will probably get made fun of behind your back for the rest of your life if you are a crappy officer. Enlisted personnel have to give officers the proper respect, whether they've earned it or deserve it doesn't matter. But I hear many a lowly Ensign get made fun of as soon as he/she walks away.
Those are my reasons. :)
See if your recruiter can pull you some strings to get the internship? Write you a letter on official Navy letterhead or something, saying you must have an internship due to blah blah blah, and you need to get paid due to blah blah blah. Worked for me when I needed to get out certain obligations before I joined the Navy.
Or maybe you could give a letter to the college saying they should waive your intership and graduate you anyways, since you're leaving for the military. Just some ideas...
Silly girl; you still think a working student can have a social life? =)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in grad school (10,000 years ago) there were internships and externships offered for our student teaching. EXternships were paid positions. (Yea, they still collected tuition.)
The beauty of it was; the school had the openings and selected the students who were assigned.
Too bad SIU isn't handling it that way.
I'm sure you'd be a shoo-in for a paid position.
Can't the recruiter tell you FOR SURE whether your loans will be paid if you go in as enlisted???
I don't get that part.
Go in there and Shake Him UP.
one of the mistakes my husband made while in school, was NOT doing an internship. it made getting a job in the field 10 times more difficult after graduation.
ReplyDeletethanks for following me. i look forward to getting to know you, hang in there, and follow your gut!
Hi! Visiting from SITS!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for your willingness to serve!
I have no advice for you on the enlisting or officer front, but i'm sure you will get a lot of great advice from people who know this ins and outs.
As for the internship - i totally understand where you are coming from. I hated that I had to pay someone to let me work! lol BUT I will say that there were two of us who got jobs at the place that I interned. The other girl did not do an internship and although they did hire her, they didn't hire her for the same position as me and she ended up making less overall. I'm sure someday she'll catch up, but the company considered my internship to be experience. So i guess in the long run it's better.
Anyway, good luck!
Christy
p.s. I'm now following you. Hopefully you can check out my blog and it will be of use to you or someone you know. :)