As a college student you have to have a summer job. There's pretty much no way around it, you need to make money for the school year, and if you work during the school year most students pick up a different job or an extra job for some extra money. But does a summer job always have to be just another random job? Sure you are obviously going to take whatever job is available that pays the best. It's not a forever job, it might not even be in the realm of what you might possibly want to do for the rest of your life, but you can get more out of a summer job than you think.

A lot of summer jobs entail working with kids at summer camps or babysitting because kids are out of school and someone needs to be watching them. Do not pass those jobs up because you don't like kids or don't want to work with kids in the future. I can almost guarantee you will absolutely fall in love with at the very least one of those kids and they will change your life. You can learn so much just from hanging out with those kiddos all day. Take the time and get to know them, its crazy to think that little kids that barely come up to your waist could have a personality but they have the biggest personalities out of everyone I have met.

Working with kids makes you realize how small some of your problems are. Like the fight you had with your boyfriend or girlfriend, or the million things you have to do before the summer is over, when a kiddo comes up to you crying with a scrapped knee looking at you like you could save the world just by giving them a band-aid and a hug you forget about everything. And when that same kid runs off ten minutes later with a smile of their face and a patched up knee you can't help but feel happy that you were the one they ran to, and with such a simple fix saved the day for them.

The kids you meet at work trust you, look up to you, and need you. As college kids, we haven't really had anyone depend on us for anything. If we're being honest I am sure a lot of us are still pretty dependent on others. But these little guys need us and come to love us. They will miss you when you call in out on a day you don't feel like going in, and then tackle you the next day when you're back. They'll remember that you drink really milky coffee in the morning or you wear your sunglasses when you're "sick," a.k.a stayed at the bar a little too late the night before. They become part of your life and in the end you wouldn't want it any other way.

Find a job at a summer camp, work outside, spend the days playing dodgeball, making arts and crafts and eating freeze pops. Even if you hate to admit it you will love it. You get to hang out with some awesome kids and they'll teach you a thing or two along the way.