The Five Stages of Grief - Summer Plans Edition

Now that March is upon us, deadlines for summer applications have either passed or are rapidly approaching, and many students already have jobs or travel plans lined up for the summer months. If you do not have any plans yet, you may soon experience, or perhaps already are experiencing the following five stages of grief:

1. Denial: “This can’t be happening”

This is the beginning of the grieving process. You convince yourself that the rejections you received were likely sent to the wrong person and if anyone asks, you do have a summer job. This is the point where you start working your blockmates and friends’ parents in a last-ditch effort to set something up for the summer. That is, unless one of your friends beat you to it.

2. Anger: “How does everyone else have internships?!”

You have now progressed to the second stage. If anyone mentions their summer plans, you immediately throw a stink eye and hiss. You are furious that everyone seems to have their lives together, except you. If job applications were still done on paper, we’d recommend burning your personal copies. However, given most things are computerized now, maybe just go with that extra slice of cake and dinner and leave the laptop alone.

3. Bargaining: “I’ll trade you my dog for this job”

At this stage, you may start brainstorming a list of valuables potential employers might accept. These could include clothes, free SAT tutoring, a swipe to the second floor of Annenberg, or even your $250 Ec 10 textbook — autographed by Mankiw himself!

4. Depression: “My summer will be the worst”

Here, you enter a deep abyss of despair. To accompany a good cry, we recommend a tub of ice cream paired with a movie like “The Wolf of Wall Street” or “The Internship” to remind yourself of what you won’t be doing (and the money you won’t be making ) this summer.

5. Acceptance: “It’s okay: I wanted to do nothing anyway”

Congratulations, you have made it to the final stage. You have finally accepted the fact that you do not have summer plans and that is okay. You’ll always have next year — maybe start the process earlier next time around?