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DCCCD Blog – Dallas College
WBEZ
During The Pandemic, Students Are Swapping Summer Fun For Summer Classes
The pandemic has upended summer plans for college students, from
internships to travel to jobs. Instead, many turned to summer school.
By Kate McGee
Tuesday, July 28
She was going to spend eight weeks in Argentina studying public health
and working in a clinic. Then, she was heading to Israel for a
traditional Birthright trip for young Jewish adults.
All of that was canceled due to the novel coronavirus, forcing her to
move back in with her parents in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Instead, she spent the summer taking an online calculus II class.
“It was obviously a huge bummer to have to cancel,” Matthews said.
COVID-19 has put an end to many internships, study abroad opportunities
and typical fun summer plans. As colleges worry how the pandemic will
affect fall enrollment, many in Illinois have seen a bump in summer
enrollment compared to last year as students try to turn lemons into
some kind of lemonade.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of
Illinois at Chicago saw summer enrollment numbers jump 25% and 27%
respectively over last summer. Loyola and other local private
universities also have seen an increase in summer enrollments.
Elina Callas, an incoming freshman at Loyola University Chicago,
decided to get a head start and take online classes this summer to get
some of her general classes out of the way.
“Especially double majoring, I knew I’d had to do a little more work,”
Callas said. “Just thinking of the future: I want to study abroad and
things like that, and I just want to make time.”
Interning from your living room
For those able to keep their internships, they’re now working from the comfort of their homes.
Indiana resident Joe Graziano said when the pandemic initially hit,
lots of friends saw summer internships they’d secured in the fall
canceled. He was worried his paid internship with the risk management
company Aon would be too. He plays baseball for Butler University and
dedicated previous summers to his sport. Heading into senior year, his
resume was pretty thin.
“So I kind of really needed this, not going to lie,” Graziano said. “If
they’d canceled this, my resume would’ve been baseball, a club — not
very filling.”
Aon depends heavily on its interns. Traditionally, they hire nearly
two-thirds every year permanently. They mailed laptops home for interns
and integrated them into teams who are also working virtually due to
the pandemic. They’ve also been assigned group projects with other
interns to help improve the company internally.
Graziano said he misses the in-person interaction because it’s difficult to make a good impression remotely over a video call.
“There’s a lot you can get from small talk at the office,” he said.
Still, he feels lucky to be earning a paycheck this summer, as does
Manny Gonzales, 19, who is studying computer science and engineering at
Harold Washington College in downtown Chicago. He was involved with the
group Genesys Works in high school, which helps students in
underinvested communities connect with employers for job and internship
opportunities.
They helped him quit an overnight job at UPS and start working at a
data analytics company downtown. He’s continued working remotely
throughout the pandemic, which is guaranteed income that’s also helping
him build toward his career.
“Not everyone gets this opportunity at my age,” Gonzales said. “Having
these big corporate companies on my resume at my age, you know. It’s a
blessing.”
But even with his job, he’s being extra productive this summer.
Gonzalez tacked on two summer classes so he can finish his associate
degree early — and transfer to a four-year school to earn a bachelors.
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