Last spring, I was gearing up to graduate and was waiting for the job offers to come rolling in. Instead, the only opportunity that came my way was a summer internship. At the time, I was making plenty of money waiting tables, but I knew that the added experience of an internship would add to my credentials– even if it meant taking a pay cut. So I moved to upstate New York to a place that was a five-hour drive from everyone I would care to visit.

When I first got there, I quickly realized that this job sucked. My boss, the woman who had hired me, misinformed me when I had inquired about the hours, the workload, and the learning potential of the position during my interview. However, by the end of August, when it was time to pack up and move on, I realized I had just had one of the best summers of my life.

Before I go into the ways that you, too, can make the most of your summer internship, let me explain why mine was so terrible. I had been hired by a nonprofit regional theater company as an administrative intern for their summer season. As an English major who was trying to break into theater, that sounded right up my alley when my boss had described my duties. However, when I arrived, I quickly learned that the majority of my time would be spent serving as assistant house manager — ripping tickets and listening to patrons bitch for 8 shows a week.

Though I had thought that I would build my portfolio by working side-by-side with the theater’s Educational Coordinator, my first week was spent vacuuming dust off of the theater’s 500 seats and battling the cobwebs that had set in while the venue was dark for the winter.

But I came out OK and you can too. Here are some tips for making the most of that craptastic summer internship:

1. Make friends.

All work and no play…. right? Hey, if the workload sucks, at least you can form a support group and walk away with some valuable new relationships. I had another intern who had the same responsibilities as me, and though our personalities are very different, we couldn’t help but develop a strong friendship. I was the crazy one who showed her how to open up, and she was the level-headed one who talked me off a ledge every time I freaked out about a bad decision. Now, she lives in Japan– go figure– and we Skype several times a week.

Besides the other intern, I got to a point halfway through the summer when I decided to show everyone the “real” me. Take this advice with a grain of salt, because there is a fine line between work and play, but halfway through the summer, I totally let my guard down and started partying it up. I learned how to work the room, and one night, one of my coworkers informed me, “Kathryn, you ARE the party.” Later in the summer, I organized a keg party that everyone in the company attended- young and old, interns and lifers, actors, tech crew, directors- everyone. When the summer came to an end, even the box office team gushed that nobody had ever brought every department together like that.

2. Take on more responsibilities.

I was clearly not going to build my resume simply by performing custodial duties every week. So I made it clear that I was willing to work extra hard in order to be given more tasks. I spoke to the Educational Coordinator and expressed my interest in evaluating script submissions for her, and she gave me scripts to read in my own time (yes, I am a nerd, but at least I was using the skill set I had developed in college). When word spread that I was willing to work outside of my normal intern duties, I was rewarded by the Costume Supervisor, who paid me an extra $40 a week to serve as a dresser on one of the shows. In Intern World, $40 goes a long way. If there’s anything I’ve learned from internships, it’s that everything is what you make of it. You’re not going to get experience if you go home every day and bitch that you just spent 8 unpaid hours making photocopies. But if you put yourself out there, you can garner an infinite amount of experience.

3. Network.

Making yourself known and networking is one of the most invaluable perks that can come with an internship, if you take the initiative. By taking on more responsibilities and becoming the Social Mascot of the company I worked for, I met a LOT of people. I didn’t have to volunteer with the Education department, but not only did doing so boost my resume, it allowed me to get close enough with the coordinator that she offered to serve as my reference when I left the internship. Besides, industry professionals started where you are now, so use the “intern card” to your advantage. Ask one of the head honchos of the company to have an informational meeting with you. You will get to describe your skills set, receive advice, and display initiative that your self-appointed mentor will appreciate. How can someone say “no” to a struggling intern? Even if you’re stuck in a department that isn’t right for you, reach out to a coworker and ask if you could shadow him or her for the day. Hey, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

4. Read.

If you’re bitching about spending several hours a day filing and photocopying, you might as well find a way to make these menial tasks matter. Photocopying contracts? Read them. Filing meeting minutes? Read them. You’ll learn about everything, including the microscopic details that your superiors schedule four-hour fourways to brood over at length. If you’re given a document, your boss trusts you with it. Look at what it is, and take in the info. Do NOT repeat any of it, because many items will be confidential, but there’s nothing wrong with seeing how other professionals handle their business affairs, is there? Because hey– you’ll be there one day.

5. Speak up.

If you’re not being challenged, or if there are flaws in your intern program, keeping mum won’t help. Find someone you trust- another colleague, your internship coordinator, maybe even your boss- and express the fact that there’s room for improvement (politely, of course). Chances are, the company won’t want to risk losing a free employee halfway through the summer when the pool of applicants has already dried up. It’s even better if you have a plan, so you can suggest an alternative. It’s pointless to wait until your exit interview to gripe about how miserable you were this summer, so stand up for yourself and see if you can make a change NOW.

Learning the ropes of an internship is one thing, but becoming accustomed to a big city for the first time while starting an internship can make those first few days all the more nerve wracking.

After scoring two internships in New York City last summer, I couldn’t have been more excited – and then the realization of living alone in a city I didn’t know anything about terrified me. From the moment my plane landed at La Guardia, I was a nervous wreck until I made it through my first few days.

By the end of my time as a summer intern, though, I had the interning and city gag down pat. In fact, I couldn’t get enough, so I decided to come back to New York in January to intern again. With three different internships under my belt in one of the biggest cities in the world, here are some tips that helped me become a big city intern faster than I thought was possible.

Timing is everything: Since most big cities rely on public transportation, you will need to leave earlier than you normally would anywhere else. For example, if it takes you ten minutes to walk from your residence to your company’s building, you should leave twenty minutes early – at least for the first few days – to make sure you get there on time. Also, who knows what can happen on any given day. Traffic could hold you up one day, a morning rain shower could crowd the subways, or a longer than anticipated line at Starbucks might hold you back while waiting for your morning Venti Mocha. Always give yourself some leeway because this way, you won’t be late and you will save yourself the stress of worrying about getting to the job on time.

Transportation shortcuts exist: Most transportation systems, such as the subway and buses in major cities from New York to San Francisco, have websites that you can find all the information you will ever need at. However, most helpful is the popular HopStop, a website that will tell you what subway trains to take, what bus to transfer to, and how many blocks you need to walk to make it to your destination and how long all of that moving and shaking will take you. It not only informs you about maintenance hold-ups, but it will give you different routes for you to pick from. And to top it all off, you can use HopStop on your cell phone. You won’t get lost with this website in your life, I promise.

Make friends with the doormen: Whether your company’s office has a doorman or you are running errands for an author out of her apartment, get to know the people working the front desk or building doors. Not only will you have a smiling face to greet you in the morning, but you will have someone that knows the city well to direct you in a time of need. This past January, the doormen at the apartment building I constantly ran errands out of were some of the nicest people I met my entire internship. Constantly helpful, they always made me laugh no matter how cold it was in New York or how many boxes I had to carry blocks away. They will brighten your day, and by talking to them, you will brighten their day.

Band-Aids make good friends, too: I can’t begin to count the amount of band-aids I went through during all my internships. It didn’t matter how old and broken in my shoes were, they gave me big, ugly blisters. Why? Well, because the amount of walking I did while interning was far beyond the normal amount of any day around a college campus. I learned quickly to keep a box of Band-aids in my over-sized bag and everyone should do the same. Trust me, you don’t want to be the girl limping with a bloody shoe. Also, since interns usually deal with a lot of paper, nasty paper cuts are guaranteed and you won’t want to have bloody fingers when handing faxes into your boss.

Keep a detailed notebook: Purchase a small spiral notebook and keep it in your bag the entire internship experience. While you write tasks or errands you need to run throughout the day in it, you can also keep addresses of locations you visit, phone numbers and other contact information, and any thoughts you feel need to be recorded all in the same place. If the notebook has pockets, slide in all the business cards you get. Notebooks also come in handy because you can write directions down in it, which saves you time and embarrassment from opening a huge subway map in the middle of a metro station to see where you need to go. At the end of your internship, you will have pages filled of duties you completed (which will make you feel good about yourself) along with a lot of other information that could one day come in handy (for example, a lot of the locations I visited during my summer internships were places I wanted to go again – and I was able to reference them from my notes during my winter internship). This is a good way to keep all your stuff organized so you aren’t leaving things all over the place.

Keep up the pace: Internships in big cities tend to go at a very fast pace. Make sure you keep up. Some days it will honestly suck and you will probably hate it – but you are there to learn. Soak everything in – the good, the bad, the bloody socks from your new shoes, the compliments from your new boss – everything. You were picked to be an intern for a reason, and as long as you remember that, you shouldn’t stop working hard to show that you really do belong there.

Make the most of it: A major perk of interning in a big city is actually being in a big city! You will have a ton of culture and excitement at your finger tips, so live it up! Although working may wear you out, make sure you spend time seeing what the city has to offer. Not only will you gain immense amounts of work experience, but you will do so in a cultural environment – there really isn’t much more you can ask for during an internship!

There are so many difficult choices in life (do we love or hate high heels??), so we thought we’d sort through ‘em right here. Every week we will discuss another issue we are torn up about. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!]

So, we now all know what Twitter is. I can guarantee that you either Twitter yourself, have a friend who Twitters, or know a celebrity that Twitters (and creepily internet-stalk them).

Since its launch in 2006, Twitter has gained roughly 5 million users, coming in 3rd in the social network sites, with 2nd going to MySpace and 1st place to Facebook. It’s actually kind of like the status updates on Facebook, without all the wall posts and bumper stickers (and those annoying pokes). But sometimes I do miss a good laugh at a not-so-attractive FB picture (*untagging now), and a friendly poke now and then isn’t so bad. So Twitter: I’m torn.

Love it:

I do quite like Twitter, because just like FB, it’s a great social networking site that allows you to keep in touch with friends. But more than that, it allows me to take a peak into the lives of some of my favorite celebs and, in a sense, live vicariously through them (which helps me when I’m studying in the library and wishing my life were as thrilling as Britney’s with an ‘e’).

Ever heard of the KISS principle? Well, Keep It Simple Silly is just what the founders of Twitter had in mind when they thought of the easy user interface and simple instructions for beginners to the blogging world (even my great aunt uses it – that should say something). Speaking of simplicity, I absolutely LOVE the 140-word limit; say goodbye to those annoying paragraph status-updaters who feel the need to give every intricate detail about what is going on in their lives and their pets’ lives. This space limitation has led to an interesting new  language of “Twitterverse,” which is totally better than the over-used “ROFL” (or, in my brother’s case, “ROFLEW”- rolling on floor laughing eating waffles). It definitely deserves its own dictionary.

And Twitter even has loads of fun applications you can add to make your Twittertime even better, like Twitpic, Twitterific, and Tweetie, and you can even hook your phone up to Twitter on-the-go. Now that’s what I call Twe-riffic.

Loathe it:

Those annoying people who have those long status updates on FB now have another place to annoy the world. Now half of your mini-feed consists of everything this particular ‘Thwumb” did every 5 seconds. Freaking Twitterati. Do we really need to know you’ve rediscovered your love for Backstreet Boys?

I also really don’t like the fact that we have no control over who “twadds”/follows us; it’s a bit creepy if you think about it. I mean, it’s cool and all that Obama twadded me, but my friend’s mom – not so much. And sometimes I miss all those unnecessary apps on FB, like Kick-ups and Scramble, not to mention the usefulness of FB for internet-stalking that cutie in your psychology class. A 140-worded insight can only get you so far. Sigh.

An unfortunate similarity to FB is that Twitter can get wayyy too addicting. As in not-doing-your-homework-and-just-surfing-through-random-tweets addicting. I myself am a self-diagnosed Tweetaholic, which is definitely not a good thing.

So, I love it and I hate it. And I just told that very fact to all of my followers.
What about you? Are you a Tweeter? (Yeah? Well, follow us on Twitter!)

Dear Tuffy Luv,

I’m graduating from a small liberal arts college in May and I’m starting to get realllllly nervous about job hunting. Everyone says this is a terrible time to start looking for a job. What am I supposed to do?????????

Thanks for your help!

Terrified Senior

Dear Senorita Senior,

Honey, boy do I feel your pain. You think there’s a lotta work out there for stylized advice columnists? Hint: There ain’t.

The economy here in the US definitely sucks right now. As of December, the unemployment rate was up to a very frightening 7.2%. But, listen. Tuffy’s got a few tricks up her sleeve for you. And it’s a very large sleeve. Bell, maybe. Or perhaps kimono.

(1) Consider staying in school.

I know this seems counterintuitive, but look at it this way: The job market’s bad. It might be slightly better in a couple of years when you come out of grad or professional school–and you’ll have a better degree. Just a thought.

(2) Choose your field wisely.

Maybe getting that degree in mortgage lending ain’t such a good idea right now. You know what we always need? Teachers. Health care providers. Target your job search to find occupations that need you as much as you need them.

(3) Rework (and rework and rework) your resume.

Change that shiz for each and every job. Make sure your objectives and all that jazz stay specific to the position and company.

(4) Email your friends.

And your family. And any other contacts you have. Send them your resume and a couple of paragraphs about your skills and goals. The idea is to ask them if they can pass your info along to someone who can help you, or even if they can help you themselves.

(5) Stay positive.

It’s easy to get discouraged, Terrified Senior. But keep your chin high and keep sending out that stuff and stay confident and you’ll eventually land something. Be nice to everyone. Always be polite to any and all contacts. And do one thing for your job hunt every day. Believe me, it’ll be much less overwhelming.

Honey, good luck to you. And good luck to everyone else out there searching for a job in this sh*tty economy.

Hearts & Skulls,

Tuffy Luv

Just another reason to hate Keith Olberman and the rude ladies at The View.

We are so happy that Holly Madison isn’t hung up on Hef anymore.

Mod makeup has been popular since the 1960s and is back again.

Apparently, being a lesbian is way worse than being bi.

The Super Bowl is now going to wreck more women’s lives than usual.

Michelle and Barack Obama scoped out their new pad today.

Being green can be dangerous, especially for James Cromwell.

Watches, to wear or not to wear?

Oprah has taken over the world, well almost.

If only this worked to change water into wine too!

“Heyyyyyy!!!! Ohmygosh we haven’t talked in ages!!!! How have you been? You look like you’re doing great. WE should totally get together sometime!”

We all have those friends on Facebook. People that we knew ten years ago and don’t talk to anymore. Except for on Facebook.

I have plenty of friends like that. And I even friend requested some of them.

Of course, those friend requests were mostly because they were the people that made my middle school years hell, and I like to stalk them and silently gloat over how much cooler my life is than theirs.

But some of them were sparked by a genuine desire to see how they were doing and what kind of people they had turned into.

So how does this whole reconnecting thing work, especially on the internet, and especially if one of the two parties may not be exactly thrilled at the idea of sitting across from their grade school buddy whom they haven’t seen since 1999? Something about the cyberdistance makes the idea of rekindling a friendship seem more approachable over Facebook (or Myspace, as the case may be). If your old classmate doesn’t feel like answering you, it’s a lot easier to not take it personally when all you’ve done is send a digital message instead of digging out an old phone number and calling out of the blue.

And isn’t Facebook made expressly for social networking? What is reconnecting if not maintaining your network?

On the flipside, some people don’t agree with the use of Facebook as a connecting tool for long-lost contacts. If you don’t, don’t respond. Or respond in such a way that it leaves no room for them to really pursue. Like, “I’ve got a really full plate right now. I’ll let you know as soon as things slow up.” Then, you never send a message again, presumably because your schedule is just as jam-packed as ever.

If you think it’s annoying when people randomly fill up your inbox or clutter your wall, then use what your mama gave you (your fingers) and click “Delete”. Simple as that.

I, for one, am all for the “Let’s do lunch sometime. ” Then again, that’s not everyone’s thing, I understand.

[olde time facebook photo from www.hoosieraneum.com]

As you push your cart up and down the aisles of Wal-Mart and Target stocking up on the necessities, your bank account is slowly draining (unless your parents plan on footing the entire bill-in which case you can stop reading now).

The money you’ve saved up at your menial summer job may be non-existent by the time you hit the mall to pick up some new kicks and a few back to school outfits.

So what happens when you land on campus broke as a joke in need of food and fun? You begin the job hunt.

As a seasoned veteran of the work study program, I would not recommend this line of work. My freshman year was spent slaving away between classes in an office with no windows. Fetching sandwiches for a hostile man whose job it was to make photocopies for 7 dollars an hour wasn’t my idea of a worthwhile part-time job.

When I ventured out to find legitimate employment during my sophomore year, I applied to every store, restaurant, and office within a 20 block radius of my school.

To be blunt, I went crazy, spreading my resume like wildfire to anyone who would take it. You would think my phone would have been ringing off the hook.

Well, think again. Turns out thousands of kids from my school and surrounding colleges were applying for those very same jobs. I didn’t receive so much as one call back for at least a month.

Eventually, I got a call from a restaurant less than a block away from my school. I wound up with a well-paying convenient part-time job. More importantly, I walked away from the situation with a better understanding on how to land a job in a competitive environment. I pass these tips on to you, our loyal readers:

1. ALWAYS have a copy of your resume with you- Nine times out of ten a manager will request a copy of your resume when you apply for a job. Don’t let them down. You’ll look silly and unprepared, qualities that are not highly valued by management.

2. Dress the part- Even if you’re applying to the crappiest hot dog stand, show up in a respectable outfit and you’re a hundred percent more likely to land the gig. Never, under ANY circumstances, wear jeans. Many establishments will politely take your resume and shred it to pieces the second you’re out the door if you look unprofessional.

3. Be Confident- Look the interviewer in the eye when you speak. Don’t be afraid to talk about your achievements and useful qualities. Remember, many others will be applying for this very same job. You need to sell yourself and convince the company that you are the best person for the job.

4. Be Available- Most part-time jobs will need you on nights and weekends. Obviously, it sucks working on Friday and Saturday night. However, most restaurants (or stores!) won’t hire you if you aren’t willing to make this sacrifice. If you’re desperate to salvage your weekends, request every other weekend off, or ask to only work on one weekend day.

5. Network- Sometimes the easiest way to get a job is through a friend. Ask around- someone you know is bound to be employed at a place that is looking for help. With their recommendation, you may have a simple “in” at the company.

A part time job can (surprisingly) be a key part of your college experience. As you’re required to spend time with your co-workers, a job offers you the opportunity to make new friends. You will always have extra spending money to buy that new shirt you REALLY want or to go out on the nights you’re available. It’s not all fun and games- but it beats sitting home because you’re penniless or grubbing money from your aggravated friends.