I would just like to take a moment to thank the Blue Bus drivers. When I think about my experience in the bi-co, which has been extensive, I somehow never think of them. Now that I am doing a lot more driving around the mainline to and from Villanova, however, I would like to thank them. Consider this an open thank you note to all the Blue Bus drivers.

Thank you, Blue Bus drivers, for your tireless service to the communities in the bi-co. Thank you for dealing with the terrible driving decisions that everyone who drives on the mainline makes. I know that they can be very aggressive at times, especially when they are driving their kids to and from school, which baffles me. Thank you for always waiting for that one person who is sprinting out of class to make the bus. I’m sure you make their day. Special shoutout to that one driver who always plays really calming classical or jazz music. Shoutout to all of the other drivers who play popular music even though it must get old after a while and also people who are in the party mood on the bus sometimes sing along (badly). Props to you for keeping your head up through that. And finally, thank you, Blue Bus drivers, for navigating that really tight turn onto Haverford Station road several times a day. I have a hard time with that and I drive a Buick.

Love, Marissa

In all seriousness though, you all do an awesome job. And you all somehow seem to be best friends. I didn’t know that bus driving can bring people together, but I always see the drivers hanging out where there’s 2 busses at the stop at the same time. That warms my heart.

It’s that time of year: classes are starting, snow is falling, and summer internship applications are due. When I heard that news as a freshman, I was caught like a deer in the headlights. But it’s only winter! I thought. How can I think about summer when I’m in full hibernation mode? I was not prepared, and I therefore had a very rough January.
The story has a happy ending: I found a wonderful job in my hometown (free rent!) doing what I loved and getting paid. But not everyone is so lucky. And since this is the third time I’ve been through this, I thought I’d share a few tips:
1.) Go to the career development office. The people there are really helpful. I had a meeting and the counselor got as excited about my ideas as I was. She couldn’t wait for me to go out there and do what I loved.
2.) Don’t be afraid to take a volunteer position. There is funding that you can apply for, and sometimes you can do things that are more interesting if you volunteer.
3.) Finding the perfect summer internship takes time. LanternLink and internship sites are good starting points, but there are lots of summer internships and jobs in the world that aren’t on those sites. If you find something on those sites that is in your field but looks kind of boring, try inputting the search terms associated with it into a different search engine (Google it!) and take the time to sift through the results. There are lots of great opportunities out there that are not super boring, they just can be hard to find sometimes.
4.) Talk to people. If you’re having trouble finding something, let people know; your friends, your professors, your grocer. You never know who might have a good idea. My summer job for the past two years was at the suggestion of my neighbor. The internship that I’m most excited about applying to this year I heard about from my sister. The one that I’m second most excited to apply for I found on Google after an afternoon of different variations on “summer internship fun research”. If you look hard enough, even research can be fun.