Summers are meant to be a period to relax and enjoy time away from school. However, in hopes of supplementing one’s résumé, many students spend countless hours of their summers working at internships or paid jobs.

As students mature and progress through high school, they are given more responsibilities to deal with in preparation for college and their professional career. These can include internships, many of which are piled on during the summer before junior year.

For sophomore James Dunlap, internships are a chance for him to give back to Alpine, a summer camp that he has attended for the past ten years. He recently attended his last available summer there as a camper.

“I am really just doing this because it is a community that I want to stay with,” Dunlap said.

Although his internship is mainly to reinforce the bonds he has built with his fellow campers, it is also a great opportunity that allows him to learn how to handle the responsibilities that future jobs will likely entail.

Not all students look at the positive side effects of these new responsibilities; some, including Dunlap, view it as a change in how your summer will play out.

“I think it will be different (than last year),” Dunlap said. “Some parts will be worse, because I hate doing the dishes at home.”

Students tend to prioritize more exclusive intern positions because of the impact they have on college applications.

“I would like to do something that will help a little more (with college),” Dunlap said.

Not all internships are looked at equally, and multiple factors can contribute to how they are perceived by colleges, including what one plans on majoring in, the leadership of the position and the difficulty of getting acceptance to that internship.

However, although some students choose to pursue internships for external reasons like their résumés, others prioritize making the most of their summers. High school internships are merely one way that students can gain valuable experience before entering college.