What's everyone doing for the summer?

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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses participants' plans for the upcoming summer, encompassing a variety of activities including work, travel, study, and leisure. The scope includes personal experiences, academic pursuits, and potential internships or research opportunities.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express excitement about summer plans, including travel to California and potential trips to other locations like Vegas and Seattle.
  • Others mention working during the summer, with some indicating they will be in internships or research positions related to their fields of study, such as aerospace and physics.
  • Several participants highlight the challenges of balancing work and leisure, with some expressing disappointment over limited free time due to job commitments.
  • There are mentions of specific activities like studying, gardening, nature photography, and preparing for graduate school, indicating a mix of academic and personal interests.
  • Some participants share their feelings about jury duty and its impact on their summer plans, with mixed reactions to the experience.
  • A few participants discuss their aspirations and future plans, including attending film school and working in physics-related jobs.
  • There are light-hearted exchanges about driving and personal preferences regarding transportation, with some expressing a desire to drive larger vehicles.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share a common theme of balancing work and leisure during the summer, but there are multiple competing views on how to best utilize their time, with no consensus on specific plans or preferences.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about their summer plans, indicating that they may change based on job opportunities or personal circumstances. There are also varying levels of enthusiasm and apprehension regarding work commitments and leisure activities.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in summer plans, work-life balance, and personal experiences related to academic and professional pursuits may find this discussion relevant.

Physics_wiz
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So, summer's coming up...anyone has any exciting plans? This summer will be my summer between undergrad and grad school. I have a potential plan that consists of working out, reading (more like studying), and trading stocks (hopefully not losing money). I might also take a few days to go to California or somewhere with a nice beach. Of course this will all be ruined if I get an internship, but I probably won't apply for any this summer. I have a feeling it'll be the last summer I can enjoy for a while :smile:.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Working. :biggrin:
 
Working ...:frown:

But maybe a trip to vegas!
 
cyrusabdollahi said:
Working :frown:

But maybe a trip to vegas!

I thought you were still in school. Are you going to be working as an intern? Where? I believe we're both mechanical engineers if my memory serves me right from your posts, but I'm not sure :cool:.
 
Working on research to go towards a masters degree in aerospace at school (though I am a ME right now), and putting my work at my regular internship on hold for the summer.

Next semester is my last semester as an undergrad, but since I can start doing research early, I might possibly knock out my masters in a year or year and a half. I don't care one way or another though, I am in no rush. Graduate school is free and I don't have to take any stupid GREs.

Damn, you finished school at a young age. I am 22 and still an undergrad. LOL. I assumed from your name you were a physics major.
 
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Working, probably at a coal mine. The crap shifts won't leave me any time for any fun stuff but the money is good I guess.
 
I hope you don't have to go inside the mines. Thats one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
 
turbo-1 said:
Do you get an air-conditioned cab with music? I'll think of you as I'm cruising around on the Softail, eating bugs.

Sigh no, unfortunately I'm pretty sure there is no a/c and I can pretty well gurantee no music. Just 12 hour days full of engine noise and coal dust for me.
 
Caterpillar totally rocks.

Edit: working and studying. Perhaps a one-week vacation somewhere on the Adriatic.
 
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  • #10
Studying and Swimming.
Actually and preparing myself to travel to France
 
  • #11
scorpa said:
Sigh no, unfortunately I'm pretty sure there is no a/c and I can pretty well gurantee no music. Just 12 hour days full of engine noise and coal dust for me.

Just put an I-pod in one ear with the volume low so you can hear the radio in the other ear.
 
  • #12
Work. And when I get some free time, I'll be able to get some work done. Enjoy college while you still can.
 
  • #13
ziad1985 said:
Actually and preparing myself to travel to France

i might see you there :wink:
 
  • #14
Summer REU in Cali (8 weeks, math), riding my bike a little bit, maybe reading a chess book (probably The Art of Checkmate), and probably taking the regular GRE as well.
 
  • #15
Much like Physics Wiz, I'm between undergrad and grad school. The only difference is that I graduated in December, so I've got an extra four months of free time. Both of the physics grad schools I got accepted to said that I can only start taking classes and working as a TA in the Fall. But one offered to let me get started on research this summer, and the other will likely be able to make a similar offer once funding issues are resolved. So depending on where I go, I'll be doing MINOS research or gamma ray astrophysics research this summer. Right now I'm thinking I'll go with the latter.

Either way, summer research will be welcome. All this free time has me bored out of my mind, and aside from a nominal amount of work (the kind that pays $$$), I've spent my days brushing up on all of my undergrad physics, just so I don't forget anything important.
 
  • #16
I'll be working in our vegetable garden, and freezing and canning vegetables and wild produce and berries for the coming year. I plan to spend more time doing nature photography and fly-fishing, too. If my name gets pulled in this year's moose lottery, I'll also be scouting for places with good populations and good vehicular access (those rascals are tasty, but they are HEAVY).
 
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  • #17
Work + school + jury duty :(
 
  • #18
Joory doody! Cool!
 
  • #19
Math Is Hard said:
Work + school + jury duty :(

Good luck. That's what I'm doing now. What a royal pain. At least this week they told us on Monday that there are no trials until Friday, so I can plan some meetings and get things done during the week. I hate that they won't just tell you more than a day ahead of time what days you need to show up, so can't plan a dang thing for 6 weeks. That's just unreasonable.

Anyway, summer, work as usual. Ooh, but I get a summer intern. Yay! She seemed quite outstanding when I met her last week, so I'm looking forward to this (even the director of the internship program thought she stood out above all the others who have applied in the 6 years he's been director of the program and congratulated me when she chose my lab to work in :biggrin:). This will be fun.

And for those of you who have time off to play, don't forget the PF gathering in Chicago in July!
 
  • #20
Well i was going to visit China, but not anymore. I have no plans at the moment.
 
  • #22
Physics_wiz
What's everyone doing for the summer?
I hope to help him add.:smile:
 
  • #23
Loren Booda said:
Physics_wizI hope to help him add.:smile:

Haha that one took me a minute to figure out.
 
  • #24
Probably work if I can find a decent summer job, and I need to do a bit of studying as well before I head off to college in the fall.
 
  • #25
I got a physics job in infrasound at my university
 
  • #26
Math Is Hard said:
jury duty :(

ooh! fun fun fun! :biggrin:


I start film school this summer, got to move to NY for that... first time living on my own miles away from anyone -- you guys are all invited to the 2030 Academy Awards :biggrin:
 
  • #27
Plans? Well I have a few reasonably realistic plans...

Some friends and I have talked about a few things. We want to take a trip over to Seattle, maybe even Canada. We would obviously have to stop at a few places in California and Oregon :) I kinda want to go see Alaska as well. Aside from that, I will be working as much as I possibly can.
 
  • #28
Work.

I am hoping to make a long weekend trip to San Francisco via the Redwoods.
 
  • #29
Pfft I do not get to work at the coal mine and run heavy equipment. I am very disappointed, all of the jobs went to students with parents that already work there :'( I guess I will go home for the summer and work on the farm, should be alright.
 
  • #30
Aww that sucks... For some reason I've always wanted to drive a bus. I don't know...its just that big steering wheel. It looks like so much fun to turn it round and round...maybe I am just weird. :blushing:


A few times I got to drive someones van to take something for them somewhere. It was an old blue ford van from the 80's with drum brakes and LOADS of power steering. WAYY too much of it. Every time you hit a pot hole the steering wheel would start wishy-washing on you...but it was so much fun driving that thing. And it had really springy seats so every time you hit a bump it was like driving in a horse drawn carriage...:smile:

I enjoy motoring.
 
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