My housemates and I have established a tradition in past years to create a list of goals we want to accomplish.

As this semester is our last, we want to make sure to take full advantage of the rest of the basketball games and to properly celebrate our last months in East Lansing by knocking off several things on our MSU bucket list.

Unfortunately, however, the beginning of the semester is not all fun and games, as applications for summer and “real world” jobs still need filling out and submitting.

In an ideal world, every college graduate would be accepted to every one of their dream jobs. Clearly, this is not the case, and many students find they have to settle for whoever ends up offering them a job first.

I believe this harsh reality of accepting whatever job is offered is avoidable. With a little creativity, luck and effort, we can change the status quo. I think that we, as college students, need to set our sights a bit higher for summer jobs. To start off this process, you need to ask yourself what your dream job is or where you would love to live — if only for a short period of time.

Despite a huge emphasis on experience that will fit on a future resume, do not limit yourself to your major. The experience of fulfilling your dream is well worth the downside of not fitting in your resume perfectly.

Whether you choose to swim with dolphins, lead tours in a foreign country or work in a resort on a nature preserve, go for it. This might be one of the only times in your life you have the opportunity to do something out of the ordinary — to tell a story worth repeating. I certainly regret not taking more risks and being more creative during my first summers of college. The best example I have of someone who took full advantage of the summer is my dad.

My dad’s eyes double in size when he tells me about the summers in college he spent painting windmills in the Netherlands or when he led camps in Northern Africa and Cuba. Even though painting and being a tour guide have very little to do with his engineering career, he would not trade those experiences. Those were the summers that absolutely changed his perspective and his future.

The fact that I don’t have any more summers left as an undergraduate is a sad, but exciting, development. I have wanted to be a teacher for much of my life. It now is my mission to become the best teacher that I can be and help my students achieve their dreams. A couple years ago, one of my great friends wrote to me and was so happy that I was becoming a teacher, but that being a teacher was just one of the things I was meant to do in my life.

At first, I was very offended she would imply I wouldn’t spend the rest of my life teaching. But a couple years later, I realized she had a point. Not only am I a future teacher, but I also am a lot more than that. I’ve volunteered in political campaigns, been a guest columnist, been a historic interpreter, worked as a camp counselor and worked as a scout leader. Even though I don’t have wild stories to tell like my dad, I still have had some important, formative experiences in my college years.

In the future, I hope to call myself a coach, a father or maybe even a businessman or councilman. I know that no matter where I end up, I will try to be a positive force in the community.

It would be silly to limit myself to just one position for the rest of my life.

With that point of view, worrying about working a job just for a resume seems secondary. It is more important to build yourself as a person than look good on paper. Although the world seems cruel by making it difficult to get great jobs, it is not all gloom and doom. By thinking outside the box and outside our comfort zone, we as college students potentially have a once in a lifetime opportunity to grow as people.

This summer when much of the population is scattered to all corners of the globe, make sure you are going after what will make you happy. Even if others might not agree with you or the experience might not directly correlate with your future career, pursue what you want and what makes you happy. Make this a summer filled with memories and filled with stories. Make this summer count.

Piotr Buniewicz is a guest columnist at The State News and an elementary education senior. Reach him at buniewic@msu.edu.