Water Cooler Talk: What to do Over Co-op

Co-op is right around the corner for a lot of us.  This is always a nice time of the year because we are done being full time students and can just focus on gaining professional experience.  If this is your first co-op what you might not realize is how much free time you are going to have.  You should use this free time wisely and try to develop yourself professional and personally.  I have come up with a few suggestions for things to do over these next six months.  

My first suggestion would be to take a class over each quarter of co-op.  This is a good way to get ahead of your classes and knock out some hard classes.  If you do harder classes over co-op you can just focus on that class and not have to worry about being overwhelmed with a full course load.  If you can try to do an online class that way you can do the work whenever you want to and don’t actually have to go to a classroom.  Taking a class also helps you stay in school mode so it is an easier transition period when you get back from co-op and have to go back to being a full time student.

My second suggestion would be to pick up a hobby.  This is a good time to try to start writing for a blog or create your own blog.  Writing more often will help you become a better writer and it is always fun to write about topics you choose instead of ones chosen by the professor.  I know SMTSU is always looking for writers so that could be a good place to start.  Another hobby that I am personally going to do more of is working out.  Since I have more time I like to try to use that time to work out.  It helps that beach season is right around the corner so that motivates me too.  

My final suggestion would be to try to read a book or two.  I love reading and have a hard time trying to read while I am in class.  This is a good time either read about the sports industry more or just read for pleasure.  Personally I try to read more online articles over co-op but this time I am going to do more reading of random stuff.  My goals are to read all the Harry Potter and Walking Dead comics.  You cannot get more random then this so anything you want to read would be okay.

 

Basically what I am trying to say is just make sure you use your time wisely.  Take advantage of all the extra time you have to either try new things or just expand on hobbies that you already have.  Have fun and just try to use this time as your summer vacation since we technically do not get one.  

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Greg Monforte is a Drexel University Sport Management pre-junior from South Jersey.  Currently he works at Not Just Pizza in Sicklerville, NJ and Daddis Fight Camps in Philadelphia where he has social media and marketing responsibilities.  Greg is also the SMTSU Director of Marketing & Outreach.  Follow Greg on Twitter @Greg_Monforte.

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