Danielle Sender and I have been best friends since our freshman year of high school. Most summers since then have consisted of long days by the pool and lazy nights on the front porch. No more anxiety about tests and no more alarm clocks at 7:30 am. Fun has been our shared philosophy every summer…except this one.

This summer -- the last before college graduation -- our paths have diverged dramatically. I’m all about relaxation, having worked three jobs during the school year to save money. Danielle on the other hand is hoping to lay the groundwork for entering the working world.

“When I was younger summer was a time to relax and recuperate, but now that I’m finishing my college career, summer is a great time to expand my professional horizon and find internship opportunities that serve as another form of education and help me further my career,” she says.

Danielle has three internships this summer. She’s working at The White House Project, a non-profit advancing women’s leadership in political office, the Georgia Democratic Caucus, and a medical company. On top of all this, she is picking up shifts at a restaurant to make some money.

While to me her summer looks like complete stress, to her it’s an exciting taste of her future.

“I found this organization and this is pretty much exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life," Danielle says. So working with them is an incredible opportunity for me to network and learn about the political realm in a way that I’m not familiar with. To get your foot in the door now I think is invaluable.”

Sure, the foot in the door is important, but my brain needs a break in the summer. I need the freedom of time with no commitments.

So I’m spending my summer traveling to around America, Central America and Europe.

But I’m feeling more and more pressure – especially in a bad economy – to be working on my career path in the summer…upholding American ideals of capitalistic excellence. Ironically, that often means not getting paid and a lot of juggling to make ends meet. Danielle’s third internship at a medical company is in the mix because it’s paid:

“I need that income to fund the other internships," she says. "It’s a struggle to not get paid, but I find that I need it to advance my career. I need to network and you can’t really put a price on that.”

The price she’s paying is no time for herself. Danielle can’t go to the pool with me or grab a mojito by the beach when she wants to. She spends her free time teaching herself things -- like engine optimization -- or going to conferences.

“Honestly, there hasn’t been too much downtime yet. Sometimes in the evening I have a little downtime and I just like to relax. But a lot of this downtime is still me doing research," Danielle says. I’m laying on the couch but I’m on my computer and I’m researching various things…but I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be. This is what I’m doing. I’m advancing myself personally and professionally. I’m continuing to brand myself. I am meeting different people. I am further identifying what I want to do in the future.”

Meanwhile I’m doing the exact opposite. And enjoying it. Danielle and I did spend five days together in New York City recently. Briefly, our summer paths converged, only to diverge a few days later when I went to Spain and she headed to a conference in DC. In August, we will meet again and begin the fall quarter at the University of Georgia - Danielle will be a step closer to her career and I will be rested and rejuvenated for another stressful and bustling school year.