As some of you may know, I have been interning with The Enough Podcast since September 2019. If you haven’t heard of it before, The Enough Podcast is a podcast by Anna Larimore that strives to educate young women on self worth, the dangers of narcissism, and ways to improve relationships in their romantic, social, and professional lives. I am a strategic communications major, focusing mostly on graphic design and branding, so I became involved with the podcast as their branding intern. When I was applying, I had been going through a rough time. I had to move out of my house unexpectedly in the middle of first semester, I had found out some disappointing news from my sorority, and I was feeling down because my two best friends had both transferred back home. Although it was my dream to work on a podcast, I had myself convinced that I would never have a chance at receiving the internship. Despite all of the obstacles, I fought the negative thoughts and was persistent, continuing to take a leap of faith and go for it. I am very fortunate for my boss, Anna, for believing in me and giving me a chance, despite all of the setbacks that were distracting me from getting in my resume and cover letter on time. Here I am five months later and loving every aspect of my job. This past week I had the opportunity to do an Instagram Takeover for the podcast and was able to show our listeners some behind the scenes and give insight as to what goes into making a podcast. I get a lot of questions asking how I got so lucky with getting an amazing internship and asking what others can do to get an internship that makes them as happy as I am, so today I will be answering all of those questions! Let’s jump right into it. I think a lot of students turn to their university website alone to find an internship that has to do with their major. If it’s not their university website, it’s a general job-finding website, but limiting yourself to these websites alone can make it very hard to find exactly what you’re looking for in a dream internship. A lot of the time, internships found on these websites can be difficult to work into your school schedule and won’t have values or benefits that line up with what you are looking for, despite the fact that they have to do with your major. I found out about my internship through social media. My boss, Anna, had posted in the Facebook Group for the Scrubbing In Podcast saying that she needed interns for her new podcast as it was starting to take off. To make sure you get an internship that you know you would be interested in and have fun with, take advantage of these alternative resources! Follow instagram accounts that have to do with your major. A lot of the time, when they’re looking for interns, they will be posting about it not only on their feed, but will also post about it on their stories multiple times, so it would be hard to miss. Join some Facebook Groups as well that interest you and have to do with your major. There are some great groups out there for everything and entrepreneurs will be posting in them all the time about job and internship opportunities! Your resume is by far one of the most important parts in applying to any job, especially an internship. It is typically the first introduction to yourself to your potential employer. A common misconception is that your resume has to all fit onto one page, but this is not a requirement for a resume. If anything, your resume may come across as more impressive with the more you add onto it. If you cut out any vital information on your resume, you are making yourself vulnerable to not showing your future employer your full potential. Another common misconception is that you should send the same resume to everyone, but different companies are going to have different types of internships, so you should always keep your objective clearly stated in your essay and keep it updated for every internship you are applying for. There are many platforms out there that have amazing resume templates. Canva and Google Docs both have amazing options, or you can try and create one yourself if you’re into that. Choosing a plain template can make your resume seem “typical” when compared to the rest. Try and have a resume that has a design that can catch the eye of an employer to show your creative side. Put some thought into your qualifications and skills that will demonstrate what you can bring to the company. Don’t be shy about awards or volunteer work - include all of that! And if you’re in a sorority, include that too! Many sororities are very academically focused by having to maintain a certain GPA, and also contain many driven women who are known to make great leaders! Be sure to add a photo as well. We live in such a visually driven day in age, so adding your photo on your resume will help the employer put a face to your accomplishments and it may help them keep you in mind! If you need any resume inspiration, here’s mine: This is another common thing I’ve seen college students do. They often find internships that look really good to have on a resume, but it isn’t actually something they enjoy doing. They are afraid that if they don’t have a big-name company on their resume, they won’t be able to get a good job out of college, but this isn’t true. Yes, it is impressive that you got an internship at [big name company] because it’s very competitive and you worked hard to get there! But, a lot of the time, people become unhappy in their internships very quickly because they either have no idea what they’re doing or they aren’t doing anything that makes them feel like they’re actually learning anything. Also, the hours of these big-name internships don’t always compliment a school schedule, which is important because it is something you are doing typically for school. Some internships even require 9-5 work days, so if you are trying to do your internship during the school year, this can make it hard to focus on going to school and getting all of your assignments done. When you are looking for potential brands or companies to intern for, be sure to check out their mission statement! A mission statement can say a lot about a company and their values. Finding an internship where you know your values will be respected will make a huge impact on your experience with that company. It will help work feel less like work and you know that you will be with like-minded individuals that will only help boost your experience even more. In settings where you feel like you can be yourself, you are more likely to get something out of your internship. You will feel more excited to learn and grow in your professional abilities, as well as have the opportunity to make some friends along the way! I personally believe that this is one of the main reasons I’ve had such an amazing experience with my internship. I share the same values as the women I work with and I’m never afraid to ask for help because I feel comfortable with them and trust them and their abilities. This has allowed me to grow in my abilities as a professional as well as build my confidence in the workplace! Just by human nature, we are always wanting to put our main focus on one thing. It can be easy to try and push either your school assignments or your work to the back of your mind to focus on the other, but when this happens, it leads to procrastination. Time management is key while having an internship because if you aren’t able to have two main focuses, you are putting either your grades or your job in jeopardy. You can begin to lose track of your deadlines and may even completely forget about assignments. You can begin to overwhelm yourself with work and not be able to make time for yourself. Procrastinating when you may have double the work to do will ultimately drain you and you won’t have time to keep yourself happy and healthy. Deadlines can be so easy to forget if you don’t have them written down anywhere. If you’re doing your internship during the school year, you are going to have twice the amount of work that you are used to. To keep track of all of these assignments, utilize the reminders in your phone, or even set those deadlines in your calendar! If you are like me and you love to physically write everything down, invest in an academic planner! I love utilizing planners because the act of writing is proven to help you remember things and they help me stay organized with every aspect of my life. It allows me to set aside time for my academics, my internship, my social life, and myself! Taking the extra time to budget out my time everyday saves me a ton of stress and it can for you too! Here is my favorite planner to use! Starry Sky LifePlanner | erincondren.com $37.75 I am very fortunate for everything I have learned through my internship and for all of the friendships I have made along the way. I have loved being able to share everything I have learned through my own personal experience not only on my Instagram Takeover, but on here as well! I want to encourage college women like myself to put in the extra effort and take a leap of faith when looking for an internship so that they can have a rewarding professional experience and know what to look for in a company once they are ready for a full-time job! If you have any more questions, feel free to shoot me a message or leave a comment below!
xo, The Undergrad
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ICYMI, spring break is coming up, and it’s coming up fast. I personally can’t believe that there’s about one month left until spring break season, and I know I’m not the only one. In college, there always seems to be some stigma around spring break that requires you to go on some outrageous trip with all of your friends. As fun as this sounds, it can get extremely expensive and isn’t typically in the budget of a college student.
Thankfully, a wild week full of bar hopping on the beach is not the only option for a fun spring break. If you’re near the west coast like me, there’s a lot of road trips that are worth taking, and if you’re closer to the east coast, you are likely within driving distance of some cool cities to explore! So grab some of your friends and start planning with these budget spring break tips and trips!
If you have extreme wanderlust, a road trip is definitely the best trip you could take without breaking the bank. Yes, gas can add up, but if you get a few friends in on it with you, you can ask them to chip in for gas money! A road trip can be especially fun (and cheap!) if you like to camp. There are typically some good campgrounds that are relatively cheap all over the US, so you should be able to find some with any route you take. If camping isn’t your thing, don’t worry! There are so many apps out there now that can find you a cheap place to stay, whether you are planning everything down to the last minute beforehand, or if you need to find a place to crash last minute!
Here are a few of my favorites: ★For those who like to plan - Airbnb Airbnb is a fantastic option for those who like to plan. You can plan out how many people you need to fit and have options of staying in private bedrooms, guest houses, or even entire houses/condos/apartments. You can tailor it to the size of your group and can split the cost between everyone! ★For those who need to find a place to crash - Hotel Tonight Hotel Tonight is a great option for those who need somewhere to crash for a decent price. My dad and I took a road trip from Southern California to Washington a few summers back and used Hotel Tonight almost every night of our road trip. The app is made by Expedia so it filters through all of the best deals for hotels and you can even set a price range for what you’re looking for and can book the room right before you show up!
If you are anywhere near the West Coast, you MUST take this road trip. Personally, this trip is what I have planned for spring break this year and I could not be more excited. It is something that you can take your time doing and make it last the whole week, or you can do it in about 3 days! I took this trip with my dad about five years ago and it is probably my favorite trip that I have ever taken, so I wanted to show some of my favorite spots to my East-Coast-native boyfriend and decided to take this trip again!
What I like so much about this trip is that you can do it in such a short period of time, but still have days packed with activities. I start the trip from Newport Beach and it gets me up to San Francisco in 3 days easily. Here is what my itinerary looks like: ★Day 1: Newport Beach → Cambria When I start this trip, I don’t start on Highway 1, I start on the freeway and get off just before Malibu. I start on Highway 1 in Malibu because it cuts out a lot of travel time trying to get through Huntington Beach and Long Beach, which is where most of the backed up traffic along PCH is. I think that on the way to Cambria it’s fun to stop in Santa Barbara or Ojai Valley. There are a ton of fun shops in both towns and both are very art focused cities, so if you have a creative side, be sure to check them oout along the way!
★Day 2: Cambria → Monterey
While in Cambria, there are a lot of cheap boutique hotels, but beach camping is not too far away if that is what you prefer. Cambria is a fun little beach town that is full of good food, scenic views, and window shopping. If you’re looking to grab brunch and a smoothie on your way out of town, try The Hidden Kitchen! Although it only takes about 2 ½ hours to get from Cambria to Monterey, this will most likely be your most active day. There is so much to see between Cambria and Monterey. Stop at Hearst Castle, or even the Elephant Seal beach in San Simeon. While you’re driving this stretch of highway, you may see some wild zebras that have been released from the Hearst Castle Zoo! This is also the stretch of highway that Big Sur and Bixby Bridge fall along. About an hour north of Hearst Castle, you will find yourself at the beautiful Big Sur beach. Get out and stretch your legs, take a hike, and even camp overnight if you want to explore more of this area! If you decide to keep driving through towards Monterey, you must drive through 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach. It costs $10.50 per vehicle, but it is worth the money for the amazing views. I personally love taking this drive during golden hour, and if you plan to spend the day in Big Sur, then you should be getting to Pebble Beach around this time anyways!
★Day 3: Monterey → San Francisco
Monterey to San Francisco is a pretty easy drive. While in Monterey, both lodging and camping are easy and are generally inexpensive. While in Monterey, go to the aquarium or take a walk along the bayside and look for otters! After Monterey, take a drive to Santa Cruise and walk along the pier or visit some of the local surf shops! From here, take a drive up to Half Moon Bay and watch some of the massive waves roll through. If you plan it right in winter, you may be able to catch some of the Mavericks waves after a winter storm a little ways north of Half Moon Bay! This is typically where I would get back onto the freeway and head into the city. There are many cheap hotels and even hostels you can stay in while in San Francisco! If you are a foodie, this is your stop. Grab breakfast at Tartine Bakery, burritos for lunch at El Castillito, and dinner at Nopa. If you want to try all of the food, sign up for a food tour! Visit the piers and the farmers markets that are scattered throughout the city. See the painted ladies houses or take a windy drive down Lombard Street! If you’re into ghost tours, visit Alcatraz! The city has endless activities that are fun for everyone!
★Day 4 (optional): San Francisco → Oregon
I am deciding to go up to Oregon on this trip simply because I miss the PNW and have family that I want to visit. However, if you have not been to the PNW, I highly recommend driving up to Oregon and staying for a night or two. Explore the small towns, explore the beaches, explore the mountains - Oregon has it all! I’m especially excited for this portion of the trip because, I’m not sure what it is about it, but the state of Oregon always makes me feel at peace. The beauty of the state is incredible and it gives off a huge feeling of serenity that I simply could not explain. Some of my favorite spots are Sunriver, Portland, Eugene, and Bend! After spending a night or two here, I’ll head back to Utah just in time for classes!
I am a firm believer that national parks are the way to a persons heart. There is nothing quite like seeing the beauty of this earth in a new place for the first time. And you know what's great about national parks? They're everywhere! did you know that our country is home to 62 national parks? Yes, a lot of them are out towards the west, but there are still 8 on the East Coast and a handful of them in the Midwest! I personally go to school in Utah, so I am very fortunate to have 5 in my state alone, but just because they are far, doesn't mean they aren't accessible. If you have a national park within driving distance, go to it! It's typically $30 per vehicle to enter the park, but you can stay and camp if you make a reservation, or find a nearby campground and explore the surrounding area! If camping isn't your thing, you can typically find a nearby boutique hotel or Airbnb! The world is so incredibly beautiful, so why not go explore it?
If you haven't been to Zion, you have to go at some point in your life. Zion is hands down one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Camping and nearby lodging is easy to find for cheap prices. I personally could stay and explore this park forever, but for most people, a 3 day trip is perfect!
For hiking, take a walk along the riverside or along the Emerald Pools trail. Visit the Weeping Rock and the Canyon overlook trail. Take a scenic drive along the Mount Carmel Highway and see if you can hold your breath the entire way through the tunnel! Want more of a challenge? Hike through Angels Landing and wade through The Narrows! As long as you love the outdoors, you will love this park!
I personally haven't been To Shenandoah National Park in Virginia yet, but it is definitely on my bucket list! Find a place to lodge or camp at one of the nearby campgrounds - but if you are an East-Coast-Native, be sure to be drinking lots of water because it's a much higher elevation than most East Coast cities!
Take a sunset drive down the Skyline drive and look out along the Blue Ridge Parkway! Take hikes along the Appalachian Trail or the Virginia Creeper Trail. If you're looking for picture perfect spots, visit the Falling Water Cascades or the Shenandoah Caverns!
If you're looking for a spa-like experience on your national park trip, Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas is the place for you! This park is full of spas and hot springs (duh!) that will make this the most relaxing outdoorsy experience of your life. Take a trip to the Quapaw Bathhouse or take a nice stroll along the Grand Promenade. This National park is definitely made to be more of a day trip or spa weekend! Pack your bags and head out for a fun girls trip or a romantic relaxing weekend with a special someone!
This tip is becoming a more popular option for lodging, but I am still going to throw it on this list for those who are not convinced that Airbnb is the future of lodging with big groups. Whether you are caravanning on a road trip or are doing a "staycation" with your friends, Airbnb is always an amazing option. If you're on a trip with a big group of people, you can typically find a place easily so that nobody has to pay more than $50 for lodging.
This tip goes hand in hand with tip #3. Personally, my favorite use for Airbnb is to make it feel like I'm on vacation, when really I am about 20 minutes from home. Last year, I used Airbnb to plan a trip with all of my friends to stay a weekend in Park City when we all really needed a break from school. We rented out a house that fit 16 people and had game nights, jacuzzi chats, dance parties, and "family" meals. It gave us the feeling that we were on a relaxing weekend away from all of the stress from school, but really we were finding fun right there in a place we all called home. I don't think a single one of us paid more than $70 for the whole weekend including housing and food, so that was a major plus!
Park City is one of those cities that everyone expects to be expensive, but in reality is very reasonably priced. Renting an Airbnb can save you a lot of money when compared to the prices of most of the resorts and hotels, and a lot of the time, you can get a lot of the same amenities that you would in one of these resorts, minus the spa aspect. A lot of Airbnb's in the area have jacuzzis and some may even have pools as well. During the day, you can take hikes along the mountain trails, or you can go skiing at one of the many resorts in the area. If it's not ski season, you can go zip-lining or rock climbing through the mountains, or shoot the tube at a nearby reservoir. There is also some great shopping along Main Street as well as in the Tanger Outlets! Park City is an easy weekend trip if you are from anywhere in Utah, Wyoming, or even Idaho!
If you are taking a trip with other people, set a budget for how much each of you are willing to spend for the entire trip! Plan out money for lodging, gas, food, and fun activities. Do your research! I cannot stress this enough! think of all of the activities you would like to do on your trip. Do you want to go out to the bars? Make a budget for that. Do you want to go to museums? Make a budget for that. Do you want to eat out for every meal? Make a budget for that. You get the point. Get your people and throw together a google spreadsheet. It will go a long way. The more specific you budget categories are, the easier it will be to make your money last! Be smart and do the extra planning. Your bank account will thank you.
Or have them visit you! Or even visit your family! Visit somewhere that you know housing will be FREE and food will (most likely) be cheap! Have your friends show you around the new place they call home and go to their favorite spots with them! Meet new people! Catch up with some of the people you love the most! If you have a friend come visit you, treat your college town like you have never been there before. Do all of the fun touristy things. Go to all of the fun photo spots. Take your friend to your favorite spots and focus on a fun few nights of sleepovers and exploring! If you're a homebody and would rather visit your family, do that! Honestly, spending time with the people you love most will not only save you money, but it is what will make your heart happiest. Sometimes all we need over spring break is a reset. We have dealt with midterms, we are beginning to stress about finals, but those things can't get in our way if we are doing what makes us happiest with the people we care about most!
Now, you can take these suggestions in any way you want. You can take them with a grain of salt, or you can start applying them to the way you plan out your school breaks! If you want to save money and stay nearby, do it! But if you want to splurge and take that trip to Cabo with your sorority sisters, do that! This is YOUR break. This is your time to reset and you need to do what will make you happiest! No matter what your plans are, have fun this spring break. Be safe and be smart! xo, The Undergrad
I have become guilty of being the stereotypical college student who believes that she’s invincible and her health will never get in the way of anything. This past week, I learned the hard way that what I believed was completely false. My world felt like it had been flipped entirely upside down. My weekend had been off to a great start - I celebrated my 20th birthday with a fun brunch with my best friend in Park City, UT during Sundance and went to a nice dinner with my boyfriend to put an end to an amazing day. When we got back to my apartment that night, I started to feel the chills coming on so I took my temperature. 99.4 - not bad, but higher than I normally am. I shook it off and went to bed without worrying too much.
Fast forward to the next morning, I woke up with full body aches and chills, and the worst migraine I had ever experienced. My fever had spiked over 101 degrees and I had no idea what was coming over me, hoping it was just a bad cold or a case of the flu. The day went on and I was trying everything from Tylenol to Oscillococcinum. Nothing was working. The symptoms kept getting worse and worse and finally one thought popped into my head - my boyfriend had been having similar symptoms before he was diagnosed with mono. The following day, I was having all of the same symptoms, but only stronger. Once my fever reached up to 103 degrees, my boyfriend decided to take me to the emergency room to get checked out. Just by gathering information, they didn’t need to take any tests. They were positive I had mono, so there was nothing they could do except tell me to keep taking Tylenol and to alternate with ibuprofen. I went home feeling relieved that they didn’t have to run any blood tests with my fear of needles, but I was upset that they couldn’t do anything to get my fevers down after being there for hours. I know mono may not sound like a big deal for some, however the symptoms are different in everyone. The next few days, my fevers were not going down and I was convinced I was dying, but I was terrified because I knew that doctors couldn’t do anything to help the symptoms of mono. My fevers weren’t going down, my migraine wouldn’t go away for four days, and I had actually thrown up for the first time in 10 years. I felt so out of control of my body and my health for the first time and I genuinely thought that this might have been what killed me.
Thankfully a few more days went by and the symptoms started to show less and less. Here we are on day 7 and I’m finally beginning to feel back to my normal self. I know now that I am NOT completely healed. My health is fragile - everyone’s is. This past week has taught me how important it is to take care of our bodies and to treat them like they are our whole world, because in reality, they are! People tend to focus on the material things in life being their whole world, but we wouldn’t be able to have those things without our bodies!
To keep my body healthy, I have cut out gluten, increased the amount of veggies I’m eating, and am only eating lean meats. I have also reduced my dairy intake, and began substituting olive oil with avocado oil. Even though I still got as sick as I did after making these changes, I have felt much cleaner on the inside and my diet has even boosted my overall mood. If I were still eating the way I used to, I think it would have taken me much longer to feel better again.
Putting in just a little bit of time and effort to change your diet and prep your meals for the weak goes a long way when it comes to taking care of your body! One of my favorite resources to use to prep my meals is collegenutritionist.com! She offers awesome meal prep tips as well as recipes and shopping lists. College Nutritionist is honestly one of the main reasons I didn’t gain the “Freshman 15” last year. Everything she posts is super affordable on a college budget and is made to fulfill your college cravings. I also love using recipes from the food blog A Simple Palate - I especially love their Zucchini Lasagna!
Of course, food isn’t the only way to take care of your body. Even though alcohol is a huge part of college culture, cutting down on your intake can make a huge impact on your body. In case you might not know, when alcohol metabolizes through our system, it becomes toxic! This is why we get hangovers! It’s not because of how tired we are or because of the amount of sugar we have taken in, although those do play a role, but it is mainly because alcohol is actually toxic once we take it in. Now, I am not saying that you have to cut out alcohol entirely to be healthy, however you don’t need to be binge drinking every weekend! A few drinks is always okay, but just try not to overdo it. Make sure you are taking a break to recover every other weekend or so - there is a reason that some frats don’t throw parties every weekend. If you do decide to go all out because, let’s admit it, you do deserve it sometimes, just make sure to spend the next weekend with some good old rest and relaxation!
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AUTHORCamille Baron is a 20 year old attending the University of Utah and is in her third year as a Strategic Communications major. She strives to educate college women like herself to achieve their full potential in all aspects of life. ARCHIVES
July 2020
CATEGORIESAll Business And Professional College Culture Education Health And Wellness Self Care Travel |