This website has already discussed how students can work a number of part-time jobs in order to earn money and lower the amount of student debt that is needed to obtain a degree. Indeed, I worked a variety of part-time jobs during the academic year in order to earn extra scratch as a student. However, summer jobs can help with student loans as well, since they may help students earn extra money that can be used for educational expenses.
As a student, I worked a variety of summer gigs, and learned firsthand how summer jobs can help with student loans. After my first and second years as an undergraduate, I worked as a politics and government teacher with AmeriCorps in Paterson, NJ. The work was extremely fulfilling, since it was awesome to help the teenagers we worked with and interact with a diverse group of people. In addition, working for AmeriCorps is a good credential to have and may have assisted me in applying for a variety of credentials in my life.
However, I was also paid while working with AmeriCorps. I received a modest amount of money in salary every few weeks, and since I was living with my grandparents during this time, I was able to save much of this money. Of course, I learned for the first time how taxes can really take a bite out of your paychecks, but I still had funds left over that I could stock away in savings.
In addition, as discussed in a prior article, I also received an educational award for serving with AmeriCorps. I was able to use this award on tuition costs and other expenses, and this helped minimize the amount of debt I had to borrow to earn my degree.
After my junior year of college, I worked as a summer intern at Teach For America, and this showed me how summer jobs can help with student loans even if you are intern. As many people already know, most internships are unpaid. This is because people usually expect to learn about a business or organization by completing an internship as a student.
Not earning money over the summer was problematic for me. I did not have family that could provide me much financial assistance, and I needed to work and earn money that I could use during the academic years. This somewhat limited the number of summer opportunities to which I could apply as a student.
Fortunately for me, my college offered students the ability to receive money from the school in order to work in an array of internship programs. In addition, I was selected into a fellowship program that agreed to fund me while I worked a summer internship at a service organization. I did not receive too much money from completing this fellowship, but since I crashed with my grandparents while completing the internship, I was able to pocket almost all of my earnings. This provided enough money for textbooks and pocket cash during the academic year.
I really began to understand how summer jobs can help with student loans when I was a law student. I did not make too much money during the summer after my first year of law school. I did some ROTC training (which paid me a modest sum) and I worked as an unpaid intern for a New York judge. This internship was very fulfilling, so I did not mind going unpaid in order to complete this job.
After the second year of law school, some law students are offered positions as summer associates for law firms. Some of the summer programs at Biglaw shops offer summer associates huge salaries, that are on par or equal to the money these attorneys can earn at the firms after graduating from law school. I was lucky to be asked to interview for a number of summer gigs, and I worked at a summer associate job in a city that was close to home.
This program was absolutely amazing. Summer associates normally complete some legal tasks, and it was enriching to work on these projects. However, summer programs also include a substantial social component, and I was invited to attend a golf and tennis outing, a pool party, numerous lunches, and other social occasions. Firms host these events so that people have the chance to assess summer associates on a social level, since firms invest massive amounts of money in associates they hire, and they want to ensure they are not jerks.
This gig really demonstrates how summer jobs can help with student loans. I lived with my grandparents while working this summer gig, so I was able to pocket most of the money I earned. This ended up amounting to tens of thousands of dollars. My law school only lowered my financial aid a small amount, so I was able to use most of this money on educational expenses. This allowed me to borrow less money in order to finance my law school education, which greatly impacted my bottom line.
All told, summer jobs can help with student loans, and everyone hoping to lower their educational costs as a student should consider summer work. In addition, summer jobs can be fulfilling and might help you obtain experiences that can assist in a future career. As a result, all students should seriously consider working a part-time job during their summers off from school.