"I'm really not enjoying that so far," Ahmad added.

It doesn't stop there for Ahmad. Alongside her class, Ahmad is also doing an internship at the Detroit Institute of Art.

Unlike many part-time summer jobs, an internship gives students the experience of what their future career might look like and sometimes credit towards their degree. This comes with longer hours and a greater workload.  Raegan Davis, experience architecture and information science senior, is experiencing this at her internship with Levi’s.

“We work eight hours a day, we can kinda choose when to go in,” Davis said. “Just as long as we work 8 hours a day.”

Davis has some flexibility with her internship, allowing her to choose what time she comes in as long as she’s meeting the time requirement. At the same time, Davis is taking a sign language class and the experience architecture internship course. So far, Davis has struggled with trying to balance her course load with the work associated with her internship.  

“At the beginning, it was very hard just because there were so many different due dates," Davis said. "And I’m still trying to balance that out."

Her sign language class regularly has deadlines multiple times a week, which made it difficult to keep track of everything, especially since both the classes are asynchronous. To add on to the struggle, Davis also wanted to be able to maintain her social life, making finding time to take hours off work a little more difficult.

“Sometimes I have to not go do whatever they’re (the other interns) are doing because I have to get my assignments in," Davis said.

Yet, with a meticulously organized Google calendar by her side, Davis has been able to add on dedicated free time to spend for herself and hanging out with her intern friends. Ahmad has experienced a slightly different struggle with her class.

Her summer internship only requires her to work three days a week, so she is left slightly more time to focus on coursework. The class is structured as online asynchronous and allows Ahmad to create her own schedule. Currently, Ahmad is deliberating whether or not to take on another class for the second summer session, but finding space in her schedule isn’t her main concern.

“Will I still have the same energy that I do right now during the second summer session?” Ahmad asked herself.

Her advice to anyone else considering the same is schedule days to take doing no work and “recharge.” Ahmad thinks that this is the best way to prolong energy through the summer sessions. Haley Tamtoro, an acting for stage, screen and new media and creative advertising sophomore, has found this to work the best for her too.

“Plan on doing work and when you don’t plan on doing work,” Tamtoro said. “I want to give myself an hour to relax and not do anything at all.”

Tamtoro is working a full-time job at a daycare and even though she has filled weekdays, she is able to work her schedule to have the weekends off. Missing out on her social life isn’t something she has experienced this summer, and she would even consider working during the school year.

“It does require some scheduling and not procrastinating, but I find it manageable,” Tamtoro said. “I’d definitely consider getting a job during the school year.”