What I did On My Summer Vacation
Summer jobs teach, help students prepare for future
By Natascha Terc
senior reporter
Some students took advantage of the summer break to venture outside the Texas heat to unfamiliar places in search of experience, opportunity and recreation. With vacations ranging from volunteering to riding roller coasters, students had plenty of choices for summer destinations in 2000.
Repairing roofs, building porches and painting houses may not seem like much of a summer vacation, but for sophomore premajor Lauren Morton, the experience could not have been more rewarding.
For 10 weeks, Morton volunteered for a Habitat for Humanity group called Appalachian Outreach in Tennessee, which helps rebuild houses for elderly, disabled and low-income people.
“I had to learn to put myself second to the group I was working with and the people we were working for,” Morton said. “I was there to help these people.”
While Morton admits it may not have been a typical vacation, she said it was well worth it.
“It made the people we were helping realize not everyone is out to take advantage of them,” Morton said. “I was there to give these people hope.”
Like Morton, junior religion major Mandy Mahan, devoted part of her summer break to help those less fortunate than herself.
To raise awareness of U.N. sanctions against Iraq, Mahan, a member of
the National Council for Student Peace Action Network, marched from the
Lincoln Memorial to Lasayette Park in Washington, D.C.
“It was amazing to see so many people there who care about the people
of Iraq,” she said.
A rally was also held on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing at the Lincoln Memorial before the four-hour march, Mahan said.
While there is a danger of being arrested while protesting, Mahan said the people who march just want their voices heard.
“The people at real risk are the children of Iraq who are dying everyday,” she said. “It is easy to forget how good we have it.”
While Mahan protested, other students focused on gaining more school
credits and earning job experience.
Brian Estrada, a junior international relations major, spent his summer
at the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, Mexico.
“I went to get more experience in Spanish and to learn about a
place I had never been to,” Estrada said.
Five weeks and six semester hours later, Estrada said he is a more confident
traveler after learning a different transportation system and better conversational
skills. 
Estrada took a course in Mexican cuisine, toured the pyramids of Teotihuacan and relaxed on the beach in Acapulco.
After spending the second half of the summer working to pay bills, Estrada said he is ready to return to Mexico to explore other parts of the country.
“As time goes on, I feel I can always go back to Mexico,” Estrada said. “If I had not gone this summer, I would have been scared to go.”
Unlike his worldly counterpart, senior theater major David Murden spent his summer exploring the business world.
When Murden took a summer job in Kansas City, Mo., he said he had no idea he would come back to TCU as a partner in a business he helped create.
“I had the opportunity to learn more about recording and I figured this job would be a good start,” Murden said. “It turned out that several people and I started a web-based business.”
He said the new business creates audio-visual tours to enhance real estate sales.
“My intentions were to work simply in the recording aspect of a business, but I also ended up learning about web design and the Internet,” he said. “The best part of this opportunity is that when I return to school, I can have one foot in the real world, while keeping one foot in the TCU world.”
Junior premajor Devon Glick got the best of both worlds when she spent her summer vacation earning cash while riding roller coasters and hanging out with Mickey Mouse at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
“I knew I wanted to spend my summer at Disney World,” Glick said. “They offer a summer job program in which you can earn college credit while you are there.”
Glick worked at Epcot Center, giving presentations about new and future wireless communication equipment on the market.
“There are all types of job positions needed from attractions to food service,” Glick said. “I know a lot of people who picked attractions and ended up with food service. I was lucky to get my choice.”
The main perk to the job was free entry to any of Disney World’s four theme parks, Glick said.
“My biggest accomplishment was going on every ride at every park,” she said. “I did not make a lot of money, but I had fun and made lasting friendships with people from all over the world.”
Natascha Terc
natascha@nementerc.com