In the summer of 1961, after my first year at Bowdoin, I worked as a bus boy for $1.25/hour at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Wilmington, Delaware. Being a bus boy didn’t enhance my resume, but a job is a job, and that’s what I needed. I did learn that I never wanted to work for a boss like Arnold, the scowling, horn-rimmed martinet who served as the manager. The waitresses liked me, though, and sometimes shared their tip money.

Things got a little better the next summer. My new “better” job, which paid a whopping $1.37 an hour, involved cleaning up refreshment stands at Brandywine Raceway in Delaware. (Ever try to scrub the long rollers on a hot dog grill or the greasy inside of a popcorn machine?) My resume got no sexier, but I learned something about betting on horses, a useful skill on those rare occasions when I make a bet on the Kentucky Derby.

Those two summers came to mind when I recently served on a Bowdoin committee to award funded summer internships. To apply for this program, students get an organization or company in the U.S. or around the world to be willing to bring them on as an intern, with the proviso that the internship relates, in some way, to the student’s possible career aspirations. That is, they must provide a valuable experience for the student, not just a free employee for the organization. The student then writes a personal statement about the proposed internship and submits it along with recommendations, a resume and a college transcript to the Career Services Office.

This year about 90 students applied and slightly over half of them were awarded $5,000 grants to do an internship. Most applicants were invited to be interviewed by the four-person committee. I was most impressed by the professionalism of the students and the range and diversity of the proposed internships. I was also impressed by the commitment to the Common Good reflected in the majority of the applications.

These students truly care about the environment; about making sure all citizens have food to eat: about gender equality; about domestic and global policy planning; about the treatment of immigrants; about ensuring top quality health care; and on and on. The students who plan to pursue a career in business also prepared thoughtful and creative applications.

Making final decisions was extremely difficult, but the upcoming internships of some of the winners reflects their range and diversity. Working in the Emergency Room at Bellevue Hospital in NYC; doing research at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies in Georgia (formerly the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic); working as a liaison between fans and companies at a sports marketing company in Pennsylvania; working in the office of a US Senator in Washington, DC; working at the world’s largest international law firm in Guatemala; developing voice recognition applications and software at a company in Spain; working with inner city youngsters at Harlem Lacrosse, a summer program that combines going to school with playing lacrosse; learning about the music industry at Atlantic Records in NYC; doing research in the Department of Anesthesiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston; working at a craft brewery in London; and exploring the intersection of law, immigration and human trafficking at Gulfcoast Legal Services in Florida. (Incidentally, I’m happy to report that one student will be writing stories this summer for the Times Record.)

I wish I could have had the opportunity to experience a summer as meaningful as these lucky students no doubt will. On the other hand, I can still bus a mean table.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at [email protected].