Deciding how to spend your first-year summer can be stressful.

While Harvard has plenty of resources to help students navigate their first summer, including the Mignone Center for Career Success, and this handy guide to the available options, I wanted to humanize some of the opportunities Harvard students can take advantage of during their first summer by chatting with some of my classmates about what they’re up to!

On-Campus Jobs

First, I'll start off with my experience. I'm spending my summer on campus working for the Admissions Office. I give tours to prospective students and families.

I heard about my job through my proctor, and I applied through the Student Employment Office, which is a helpful resource for jobs on campus. I love giving tours and I've enjoyed being in Cambridge in the summertime! I have so much more free time to explore Cambridge and Boston than I do during the school year.

There are many other jobs either on campus or out and about in Harvard Square. One of my coworkers is also working with high school students here for a summer debate program, and another does evening shifts at Ben & Jerry’s!

Research

Many students also remain on campus to do research. For example, my friend Alec is spending his summer doing astrophysics research at the Center for Astrophysics.

According to Alec, his project entails “a detailed analysis on one peculiar superluminous supernova and its characteristics.” I don’t know much about supernovae, but that sounds pretty cool to me!

Naturally, I wanted to know how he found such an amazing opportunity. “Every year, Harvard hosts the Harvard Summer Undergraduate Research Village (HSURV),” Alec explained, “where hundreds of undergraduates from all disciplines spend ten weeks doing research. I applied to one of their programs, PRISE, got in and did not hesitate to accept the offer.”

Alec told me he has enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people and expand his intellectual horizons. He also shares my enjoyment of summertime Cambridge. “Being on campus over the summer is also a totally different experience,” he agrees. “People really enjoy the good weather (and free time!) to do all sorts of activities, whether outdoors like kayaking and biking, or indoors like watching performances or going to escape rooms.”

Community Service

Another large cohort of on-campus students are here to do community service with the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA). To find out more, I talked to my friend, C. C is spending the summer doing SUP which is a program run by PBHA to help reduce summer learning loss in disadvantaged Boston/Cambridge communities. He found out about the program through word of mouth and through his involvement in PBHA during the year.

“I have had a truly wonderful experience so far,” he says. “It is a really fulfilling program due to the impact and connections you are having on the people in the program, and the whole SUP network is simply a fantastic community and you get to meet and make friends with so many interesting people.”

For those interested in service work over the summer, the Center for Public Service and Engaged Scholarship is a great resource!

Study Abroad

Next, I talked to L. L is spending most of their Summer at the Council on International Educational Exchange's study abroad program in Monteverde, Costa Rica. They’re taking courses in Tropical Biology, sustainability, and independent research.

“It's been so, so amazing getting to experience a new part of this planet,” they told me. “My classes' hikes and field trips have really defined how amazing and immersive this program is compared to more standardized courses. I'm going to miss waking up to all the new flora and fauna, but I think it also makes me appreciate my home and my studies so much more.”

L was even able to send me some fabulous pictures from their travels!

If studying abroad interests you, I'd also advise checking out the Office of International Education.

Off-Campus Internships

Thomas is spending his summer participating in the Maru-a-Pula Internship Program based in Gaborone, Botswana. Alongside a co-intern, he teaches classes, develops lesson plans, and meets with students one-on-one to give advice on college applications and study skills.

For students looking for summer positions, Thomas recommends using CARAT, which is an online database that lists all of the opportunities available to Harvard College students through Harvard-affiliated programs. He was looking for opportunities related to teaching and mentorship, and this program was one of the few results which came up which he was eligible for.

“This has been one of the best experiences of my life!" Thomas told me. "Being in the classroom has been really exciting, as I've gotten hands-on work with teaching long-term and fallen in love with education as a whole. Beyond that, getting to explore Botswana and all of its natural beauty has been the opportunity of a lifetime --- I never would have expected that I'd be seeing elephants, lions, and hippos before I turned 20!”

Spending Summer At Home

Finally, I talked to my friend Jazy, who is spending the summer at home in Texas with friends and family.

Jazy is finding lots of ways to use her downtime. While at home, she’s tutoring for Kumon, an after-school learning program. “Being able to teach kids in my town has been not only fun, but also really inspiring. Teaching has always been a passion of mine, from being a little kid and playing ‘school’ with my siblings, to working for my school in tutoring high school writing. So getting back into it in a more professional setting has made me really consider my future in pursuing arts education,” she told me.

She’s also enjoying pursuing her hobbies. “I'm spending a lot of time catching up on things I didn't really get the time to do during the school year like drawing and reading books,” she said.

I wanted to know how Jazy was able to plan this fantastic summer experience. “I always knew I was going to come back home for summer because a huge part of my life is my family and friends here in Texas. Being away from them for nine months has been really hard and I wanted to spend my break back at the places that got me to Harvard in the first place. As for tutoring, I was actually going to work at Kumon last summer but the timing wasn't great. So I came back this summer and have gotten to know this amazing team of people and work with kids that I've learned to love!”

I appreciate Jazy’s perspective a lot. One of the things I like about my job is that it didn’t take up my whole summer, and I could spend time with my family.

Final Words of Wisdom

Rather than closing out myself, I’ll let some of my friends offer their advice:

“The summer after freshman year is a weird one, because it's the summer where there isn't a large expectation for students to find an internship or job. However, I think this makes it a great opportunity for first-years to participate in a program not exclusively oriented towards professional readiness, and instead take an opportunity that really excites them or indulges an interest.”
– Thomas

“ Feel free to explore, relax and take it easy—you’ve just completed your first year at Harvard, and that’s a commendable feat—but make use of all the opportunities Harvard offers you. If you love two things equally, for example travelling and research, chances are Harvard will have a program where you can do both! There are plenty of advising networks that will help you know your options, but start early! Deadlines approach faster than you think.”
– Alec

“My advice for first-years is to take some of the pressure off yourself. At Harvard, there's a LOT of expectations placed on you. It's really hard not to feel behind if you aren't constantly doing something great. But it's important to remember that it's your first year. You aren't at Harvard to get it all right; you are at Harvard to do what you want and love. So no matter what that looks like, do it because you enjoy it!”
– Jazy