In this candid monologue, the creator explains why choosing not to take a summer internship was one of the best decisions they made. They detail a prolific summer of self‑directed projects: publishing over 400 pieces of content that amassed more than 20 million views, growing a personal brand, running a Substack, rebuilding a website, securing five brand deals and seven client contracts, consulting for Bay Area and New York startups, traveling for work, exercising daily, sleeping ten hours each night, learning to cook, and living frugally. They also spent quality time reconnecting with their parents, built a mobile app, and hired interns for that project. Throughout, they argue that college should be a period for experimentation, warning against the prestige‑driven pressure to secure traditional internships, and encouraging students to take risks, make mistakes, and pursue what truly interests them.
Chapters
What happens if I don't get a summer internship? What happens if I have to stay at home for the summer? Let me tell you, that is a blessing in disguise. I chose not to take an internship this summer. It was probably one of the best decisions I've made. I'm not saying that you should turn down your internship offer. I just want to offer another perspective because I think there's a lot of pressure surrounding summer internships, and it feels like if you don't get it, you're a failure. But that is definitely not the case, and there are a lot of different options of things that you can do with your time. Here's everything I did this past summer. I have a list. I posted over 400 pieces of content, grew my personal brand to over 20 million views across platforms, worked on my Substack, rebuilt my personal website. I had 5 brand deals, 7 client contracts for my business. I did consulting for some startups in the Bay Area and New York City. I got flown out across the country, worked out pretty much every single day, got 10 hours of sleep, felt amazing. I learned how to cook, and because I was staying at home, I was able to be super frugal. And most importantly, I got so much time to spend with my I moved out at 12 years old, and I don't really get to see my parents that often, and this summer was like a really great time for us to reconnect. Oh, and I also built a mobile app, and I hired interns, and I'm still working on that at school right now. Your college journey should be a time for experimentation and really figuring out who you are and what you want to do with your life. If you want to do an internship, that's also great. You shouldn't feel like that is your only option or that you have to get a certain job just because everyone else wants it. A lot of people will get cornered into those things just based on prestige or peer pressure and realize 5 years down the line that this is not what they care about at all. And at that point, your cost is a lot higher to choose something different. You shouldn't be wasting this precious time that you have right now where you can take risks and make mistakes and do whatever the fuck you want to do and still be okay, and you still have so much time left.
