Pray For Our Pastors

SUMMERS IN COLLEGE

Every once in awhile, I get asked this question by Christians in college, so I figured I’d post my usual answer. First, the question: “What’s the best way to make the most of your summers in college?” My answer is first, don’t think of individual summers, and having to do everything in one summer. Consider that you have three summers. I usually suggest to students to try to spend the equivalent of one summer at home, one in the city where they go to school, and one somewhere else (preferably outside the US).

As for what you do, school in the city you go to school is the only thing I don’t recommend. Other than that, between studying, working, getting involved in a church community, spending time with family, doing community service, and investing in meaningful relationships, you want to have a nice mix for your three summers. Once you graduate, you’re probably never going to have 3-4 months to do these kinds of things in the same kind of way. So make the most of your three summers in college.

Ironically, for someone who loves Philadelphia and loves when students stay in Philadelphia and get to know its charm, I myself never spent a summer in Philadelphia. I ended up spending 1.5 of my three years at home (California) and 1.5 years outside of the US:

Summer 1992 – 1st half: home in California, working for a family friend in the morning, volunteering at a homeless shelter in the afternoon, helping out with church in the evenings

Summer 1992 – 2^nd half: went to the infamous “Love Boat,” a cultural study tour in Taiwan

Summer 1993 – home in California, working for two stockbrokers during the day and helping out with church at night

Summer 1994 – 1^st half: worked for a consulting firm in Russia, helped out with a church there

Summer 1994 – 2^nd half: worked with churches in Albania, Hungary, and Romania

I actually didn’t start working until halfway through the summer after my senior year, so technically I had 3.5 summers in college. And since I spent that half-summer at home with my family, that makes 2 full summers at home and 1.5 summers abroad. So if I had to do it all over again, I would’ve spent a summer in Philadelphia, working and hanging out with friends. But other than that, I’m happy with how I spent my college summers.