Students, Spring is Around the Corner

No, the title of this blog post is not a cheap joke or teaser, it's the truth.  Punxutawney fill guaranteed it earlier this morning.  Spring is coming.  Which not only gives me hope on this bitterly cold winter day, but it urges me to take the next step... summer is coming!

For students, summer offers the unique opportunity to do something different.  Most of us have a brief window of time, around two months, but it's enough.  I urge you to take that time and dedicate it to community practice.

Find a local organization to work with around your university, find a community psychologist practitioner (nationally) who is doing something you want to be doing and ask to help, find a summer internship opportunity and apply now.  Summer, especially for those of us who envision that our community psychology careers will take place out in the community, is the perfect chance to prepare for that vision, and to use the information we've been cramming all semester.

At this point, summer might seem like a distant dream, but trust me, it's not.  If you want to do something different, you need to start looking for that "something" now.

Here are some resources that might be useful in creating a summer experience.  Please feel free to post your own summer plans, or resources you use, in the comments box below.

Resources:

• The SCRA Community Psychology Practice Page Discussion Board
• Inquiries from students are welcome.  Look for someone doing something that you want to be doing.  
• The SCRA Listserv
• Keep an eye out for postings including summer fellowships or work experiences
• Your Local Community
• Lots of great opportunities exist; be willing to OFFER your services in exchange for the experience. 

If you want to go broader than jobs specifically identified as "Community Psychology" jobs....

• US Government Student Internship Opportunities
• Idealist.org (International)
• Volunteers for Peace (International)