Even as the permacloud crowds out the sun and temperatures hover just above freezing in South Bend, summer lingers around the corner. And right now, many students are scrambling to make summer plans, while some have already planned a year in advance.
Summer break presents a range of opportunities, including going home to work, staying at Notre Dame to take classes, getting a grant to conduct research or work on language skills or doing an internship with a company. Alongside these opportunities are concerns, from navigating the dynamics of returning home, earning enough money for the coming semester, setting yourself up for graduate school or securing a job. Summer transforms from a vacation away from school to an opportunity that must be optimally leveraged.
In reality, there are no bad options for what to do. With just three summers spanning from freshman to senior year, they are well spent as long as you enjoy them, because it is unlikely we will get that amount of unrestricted time in our future.
As you look to plan your summer, I propose this: spend at least one of your college summers in service.
My freshman year, like many ambitious Notre Dame students, I was searching for something “productive” to do during the summer. I sent applications off into the void on Handshake. I applied to study abroad (only to come to terms with how expensive it would actually be). I contemplated going home to babysit and work.
As a backup option, I applied for the Center for Social Concerns’ summer service learning program (SSLP). A few upperclassmen in my dorm had done SSLPs and spoke highly of their experience. I read through the Center’s website and resonated with its mission, but I was not sure that volunteering in the summer would be the best option for me professionally.
At the end of the semester, when none of my top choices fell into place as I had hoped, I decided to accept a position in the SSLP for fear I would be left with nothing to do. I would be going to Los Angeles to volunteer at Homeboy Industries with formerly gang-affiliated and incarcerated people.
My first few days at Homeboy, I was terrified. I was scared that the people would reject me and find my presence insulting.
Instead, I was met with endless respect and kindness.
At the Homeboy art studio, I aided and participated in the classes. While there was not much that I actually did besides accompaniment that summer, the act of service introduced me to completely different life experiences and frameworks of thinking from what I was exposed to at Notre Dame.
I learned more about heartbreaking realities such as gun violence, incarceration and gangs. I also learned about the kindness of humanity, the dignity of each person and the possibilities that are possible when we believe in the best of people.
The next summer, I applied for the Center for Social Concern’s Summer Fellowship to spend the summer working at a shelter for migrants in Monterrey, Mexico. This experience was far more challenging than my time in LA. I lived, ate and slept in the shelter. I encountered the realities of what it means to leave your country in the hopes for something better. Daily, I met people who were fleeing persecution, violence, and oppression. While that summer was not as outwardly enjoyable, it was life changing.
Seeing how I am not seeking to go into non-profit or government work, I am not sure what role, if any, my summers of volunteering will play professionally. But I do know how they have benefited me in ways that cannot be quantified. I have become more empathetic, gained a wider world knowledge, navigated challenging and frustrating situations and learned a little bit more about what it means to be human.
As you start to make plans for this summer, I encourage you to consider using at least one of your three summers, when you have the time and institutional support of Notre Dame, to do some sort of service. Whether it is volunteering, participating in a religious organization, teaching or conducting research for communities of need, there is something for you to do. While I cannot guarantee your participating in the act will affect others, I guarantee that it will affect you.
