The Opportunities are endless…

Today, I was walking with my friend Christine, who happens to be an exchange student from Sweden, and she reminded me how lucky I am to have so many opportunities around me. I have been a little confused with my own feelings lately because this summer I had huge plans to “find myself” in Europe on vacation with my best friend. After Spring Break was over I felt as if my window to find an internship was over because everybody else already had summer jobs or they had plans for the summer. I however, had no plans and I felt as if I had no direction in my life.
So, I got to thinking about it and it seemed as if the time in my life was finally here to travel and learn more about myself in countries across the globe. I mean why not, right? There is no other time in our lives where will have three months off at a time to do as we please. College is a unique time when you can do work, but at the same time have the freedom to do anything that brings you joy in life. There are no bosses around to make sure you are at work on time (although professors can sometimes get on our case) and there is no such thing as a forty hour work week. I mean there is the whole study 25-35 hours thing, but it is still completely up to us how we want to spend our time. So Europe it was, and my best friend was more than willing to agree to embark on this adventure with me. She even went so far as to planning the whole trip and creating an itinerary for us, so we were very excited.
All plans changed though when I got a phone call from Intel Corporation to interview for their Human Resources Intern position. I had already written Intel off because I sent them my resume in November and they sent me a pity email saying that they did not have any positions open that matched my skills and abilities. Needless to say though, I was pretty excited because Intel is a great company and they have a great internship program. I couldn’t turn down the interview so I went for it, and I got it! Success! That meant I wasn’t going to Europe though…and I was not at all excited to call my best friend and tell her all plans were ruined. She obviously understood this was a great opportunity for me because HR is what I want to do with my life, and this internship is going to give me a lot of great experience. I was very bummed that I couldn’t go to Europe, but thrilled to have an internship at the same time. It has been a few weeks since all this happened and I still feel as if there may be some regret in deciding not to go to Europe, but I feel as if everything happens for a reason, and I was meant to do this internship this summer.
That is why what Christine said really hit home for me because here I was complaining about not being able to go to Europe when I have a great job lined up for summer. Christine reminded me that there are so many opportunities for me in college and I have to take advantage of them. There will be a time and a place for me to travel, the time is just not this summer. I am so lucky to be going to school where I am because I do not think I would of gotten an internship if it weren’t for the experiences that I have had here at Cal Poly. I have gotten involved in a few clubs, I have an on-campus job that has given me two years of management experience, and I have met the most amazing people that have helped shape me into the person that I want to be. I think that I have done well with choosing what to do with my time, and it has paid off for me. I know I will do all the things that I want to do in my lifetime, but for now I have the chance to get one step closer to my career goal, and this what is most important to me. I still have a year left of school which means another year to do as I please. The opportunities are endless…and hey there is always next summer.