Summer is usually the time for students to unwind and prepare themselves mentally for the upcoming semester in the fall. There is also some other non-school related stuff thrown in there, like partying and just hanging out. Either way, there is hopefully some personal growth going on throughout the summer, leading you to become a smarter, better person than who you were once summer started. I hope that is the case for myself and I hope the things I have learned this summer can continue to help me grow.

Minimum wage is not a living wage.

Now this is something that I already knew in theory, but I really got to see what receiving minimum wage was like this summer. This was my first real job and as just a simple youngster, I of course got minimum wage. Regardless, I was excited because I had the opportunity to make money, but it really made me step back and think about those who actually needed this money to survive. The minimum wage in California is $10 dollars an hour and if you work full time, that's not enough to be able to pay for food, rent, a car note or anything else necessary to live. That's completely unacceptable. Minimum wage workers work, just as anyone else, and deserve to be paid a living wage.

The admissions team at your high school works way harder than you think.

This summer I worked as an intern for the admissions office of my old high school. I was a part of the street team, so I would go to events in the community to inform kids about the school and the different programs they offer. I had no idea how hard the admissions team worked, even during the summer. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes at a high school. Just because there aren't students there, does not mean everyone gets the whole summer off. From phone calls, to applications, there is so much that goes into making a school operate.

You can't sleep on SoundCloud artists.

I used to be the person who would only use SoundCloud to listen to well established artists whose music I couldn't find anywhere else without having to either pay for it or download it illegally. I thought that anybody who would be considered a "SoundCloud artist" was just the equivalent of all the terrible "rappers" from high school. And while there are a lot of artists on there who are exactly like the terrible rappers from your high school, there are quite a few gems in there, too. I was introduced this summer to so many different artists who not only were good, but actually became some of my favorite artists.

Going to college is not all about making money.

Everyone in college is so concerned about getting their degree so they can make as much money as possible. And while I would be lying if I said I didn't think about money at all, it does not concern me as much as it once did. College is all about finding yourself and finding out what you want to do in life. As an English major, so many people have told me I better prepare to be broke for the rest of my life, simply because I'm doing what I love, as cliche as that sounds. People tend to think there are only so many career paths you can choose that will make money and if you don't pick those, your time as well as your money will have been wasted. In my opinion, if you pick something you aren't passionate about or something that won't make you happy, you are the one who has truly wasted your time and money. You can't let anyone else's opinion about your major affect how you decide to live your life. Do what makes you happy and as long as you are willing to put the work in, money will come.