To land a summer internship is every freshman's endgame. Towards the end of spring semester, first-year students postpone overcoming finals and other odds to spend hours on career-advising websites, send out résumés and get on everyone’s nerves waiting for a response. And once they get a positive one, they make sure to let you know. You, however, might be a stranger to this fuss either because you decided not to participate or your application got rejected.

Either way, you slowly realize that, from now on, one's success is tacitly measured in proportion to the quality of the internship they managed to get. So, sitting quietly among your peers bragging about opportunities they grasped, you inevitably doubt yourself. Does not having an internship for the summer to come mean you will need to go the extra mile to catch up with others? Absolutely not.

Let’s face it: it wasn’t your last chance to get hands-on experience before setting off to the world of work. Although an internship could have helped you consolidate your portfolio and enhance your work experience at an early stage in your career, not having one isn’t a bid deal.

Having completed one year of higher education, college students don't yet possess the knowledge and skills that most employers want in an intern. They often entrust freshmen with monotonous and unexciting administrative tasks. Which means, the internship you can get will hardly meet your optimistic expectations. Imagine having freed yourself from classes, assignments, and exams only to realize that more paperwork awaits you. — You won’t have to sigh about this unappealing eventuality.

By missing this opportunity, you opened yourself to plenty of others. Embrace your free time and dedicate your summer to developing talents you’ve always wanted to, trying new things you couldn’t get your hands on during the academic year, or wander aimlessly in the streets just because you can. This summer could be the last time you don't have to worry about not having a job or an internship. And if you are stressed out about your future career prospects, you might want to focus on developing competencies required in your field of interest with the help of your best friend Google.

If all of the above hasn’t convinced you to put your feet up this internship-less summer, remember: internships don’t guarantee your professional success, for the latter is fostered by determination, commitment, risk-taking, and luck. And, moreover, one who is truly passionate about what they want to do in life stands a high chance of excelling in it, with or without an internship.