Amy Lindgren

It’s summertime and millions of students across the country are engaged in a traditional rite of passage: the summer job or internship.

These are two different things of course, but they bear similarities. Both jobs and internships teach valuable work skills while offering opportunities to network and meet new people. Both may provide income, although neither is likely to make anyone rich. And, by tradition, both have an end date, which is often Labor Day or the week before.

Which means (shockingly) that students may already be one-third or even halfway through their work schedule for the season. If this includes you or a student in your life, now is a good time to take stock of the situation. These summer gigs can be a tremendous opportunity, but only if they stay relatively on track.

Here are some things to check, to be sure this engagement goes as well as can be expected.

For summer internships

Is learning taking place? Since internships by definition are meant to be learning experiences, they should include some elements of structured training or guided hands-on experience. Standing at a copier for days on end doesn’t meet that criteria, while working on a team to copy and bind handbooks could.

Has there been feedback? It’s difficult to improve at something without receiving at least minimal feedback or coaching. In some settings, a supervisor or more experienced team member will assess the intern’s work to ensure he or she is making progress.

Is the school staying involved? If the internship is part of a larger school program, or if it will result in credit, then an internship coordinator/adviser from the school is likely part of the picture. By now that individual should have been in contact or perhaps have conducted a site visit.

Have expectations been communicated? If the internship is one-third or even one-half completed, the student should have received confirmation of what is needed for final credit. That could be as straightforward as arriving on time and staying on task all day or it could involve a more complex threshold of competencies to demonstrate by the end of the internship.

For summer jobs

Is the student getting enough shifts? Despite the ongoing labor shortage, it’s not uncommon for employers to send workers home without pay if business is slow. If that’s been happening, it’s time to either speak up or consider a different job with steadier employment.

Is there ongoing training? Some summer jobs consist of a rote task (think ditch digging or dish washing) that doesn’t call for much training. But even in those cases, there’s likely an opportunity to learn a new piece of equipment or to take leadership of a crew. The key to making this happen is for the worker to express interest in handling more responsibility.

Has there been feedback? Even though a summer job isn’t expressly designed for learning, as an internship is, feedback is still important. Without hearing from the boss or crew leader, summer employees have no way to know if they’re hitting the mark for productivity or quality in their work.

Is the pay handled appropriately? Seasonal workers can be an extra shock to the system for smaller organizations with no payroll department. That’s one reason that summer workers need to keep good records. Comparing these personal time logs with the actual paycheck (including online pay stubs) is an important way to be sure all of the time on the clock is being counted.

For both jobs and internships

As things wind down to the final few weeks of the summer commitment, it’s time for both interns and employees to implement a short to-do list:

• Check in with supervisors to ensure they are satisfied with how things have been going.

• Ask for letters of recommendation that can be used in future hiring processes.

• Inquire about future prospects for employment, including the possibility of weekends or evenings during the school year.

• Gather contact information from team members or workers, to help with future networking.

• Create a short list of people to thank more formally, including the boss and the school contact if this was an internship. Then follow up with a handwritten note in a thank-you card, expressing appreciation for the opportunity. It’s an old-fashioned touch that carries an outsized impact, especially when conducted by a younger worker.

• Congratulate yourself! And then update your résumé to include this latest experience. With fall career fairs just around the corner (!) you’ll need something to share with recruiters to help you nail down next summer’s gig.

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Amy Lindgren owns a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com.

Howard Chua-Eoan | Bloomberg Opinion (TNS)

One of the most traumatic moments in my life was being forced to eat a tangle of bean sprouts. These were not mung beans: They were thicker and twisted ominously out of their crunchy yellow seeds, looking like imploding tribbles from the classic Star Trek episode. They also gave off sulfuric fumes that made all the kids gag. But there was no escape.

“You can’t leave the table until you have this,” my uncle declared. It was 1979. My family had just immigrated to California and was staying with him and my aunt. That evening, he was in charge of feeding me, my siblings and his own kids because mom and her sister — the usual and very accomplished cooks — were away. If the smell was bad, it was worse going down. We ate these during the war, he said sternly. That made us feel worse: thinking about all the starving children in Japanese-occupied Asia who had nothing else on the menu.

I’d always been more of a carnivore, and those sprouts didn’t convince me to give up on chops and steaks. In the ensuing years, a generation of vegan and vegetarian activists didn’t sit well with me either. They were well-meaning with their catalogs of nutritious facts and save-the-planet statistics. But they often ended up strident, talking down to meat eaters as if we were pre-sapiens and then literally offering us pablum. “Would it kill you to have vegetables?” they’d say. I’d respond: “Maybe not, but that thing you put on my plate just might.”

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So I was intrigued by a new initiative being introduced in Denmark to promote vegetables among a population that prefers meat and fish (and deep-fried camembert!). What’s fascinating, as my Bloomberg News colleague Sanne Wass says in her deliciously reported story, is that the literature being distributed by the Plant Fund avoids words like “vegetarian” and “vegan” — and it hasn’t set numerical or statistical targets. Instead, its $100 million in government funds are being directed at encouragement and nudging and the difficult art of convincing people that ingesting a few more greens actually enhances your gastronomic experience. No one is demanding that you give up meat — just to vary your diet. As Sanne says, “Getting people in high-income countries to eat less meat has been singled out as a key way to help the planet. Swapping out beef for a single meal can almost halve a person’s carbon footprint for that day.”

That uncoercive, flavor-forward approach to vegetables is completely preferable to the doctrinaire. The example of India comes to mind where religious groups are trying to force vegan menus on public school children, who are already among the least nourished in the world. An egg is the most efficient way to get protein into growing kids, but that’s forbidden in many parts of the country. Ironically, India also has the largest population of cattle in the world because the animal is considered sacred and allowed to wander freely everywhere. Cows produce a large part of livestock’s 14.5% share of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In Denmark, the Plant Fund is using food festivals and chef training to help increase the presence of vegetables on the national dinner table. Some of the most prominent and critically acclaimed Danish restaurants have been at the forefront of this, notably Rene Redzepi’s Noma (which holds an annual vegetable season that I will savor once more in a couple of weeks); and Geranium, which Sanne cites in her piece. But perhaps the key restaurant in the slow pivot to eating vegetables is Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York. I used to hate carrots until chef Dan Barber served me a single, tiny carrot from his upstate farm. It was like candy — a sweetness all its own and unlike any other carrot I’ve had. That was about 20 years ago. I still approach carrots with some trepidation but no longer with outright loathing — and I am always overjoyed when Barber sends them out to me. Blue Hill raises (and serves) its own animals too. But the vegetables are outrageously good.

London has its cutting-edge vegetarian restaurants as well. I had the opportunity to sample the fare at Plates, a new spot by Kirk Haworth, who was crowned “champion of champions” in the latest iteration of the BBC’s Great British Menu. The menu isn’t vegan but almost completely plant-based (with a house ricotta the closest reference to animal protein). Even the butter that comes with an astonishing laminated bread is concocted from spirulina algae. It is green but absolutely winning. The restaurant has just opened, but it’s already booked up for months.

I’m not giving up meat, but my vegetable love should grow vaster, to steal a line from Andrew Marvell. As chefs turn their talents toward plants, more of my meals will be vegetarian — without feeling I’ve sacrificed enjoyment. I can have my steak, and eat it too. Just less often.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Howard Chua-Eoan is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion covering culture and business. He previously served as Bloomberg Opinion’s international editor and is a former news director at Time magazine.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com/opinion. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Hunter Boyce | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)

ATLANTA — Being exposed to light during a certain time of day can increase a person’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. According to the science, it all comes down to how you sleep.

Published in the Lancet Regional Health — Europe earlier this month, a study helmed by Flinders University researchers in Australia discovered sleep disruption can play a significant role in diabetes development.

“We found that exposure to brighter light at night was associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes,” senior study author and associate professor at the university’s College of Medicine and Public Health Andrew Phillips said in a news release.

“Light exposure at night can disrupt our circadian rhythms, leading to changes in insulin secretion and glucose metabolism,” he continued. “Changes in insulin secretion and glucose metabolism caused by disrupted circadian rhythms affect the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels, which can ultimately lead to the development of type 2 diabetes.”

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Researchers analyzed information from around 85,000 people and 13 million hours of light sensor data to determine being exposed to light from 12:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. increased diabetes risks in participants. The participants did not have Type 2 diabetes at the beginning of the trial, which ran for nine years.

For a near decade, in the largest known study of its kind, the scientists monitored the participants to observe who developed the disease.

“The results showed that exposure to brighter light at night is associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes, with a dose-dependent relationship between light exposure and risk,” Phillips said. “Our findings suggest that reducing your light exposure at night and maintaining a dark environment may be an easy and cheap way to prevent or delay the development of diabetes.”

©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Lauren Schwahn | NerdWallet

We’ve reached the midpoint of 2024. As you reflect on the first six months of the year, you may be wondering how you’re doing financially. Checking up on your credit health is a good starting point.

“People’s insurance rates, the fact that they can get approved for an apartment or even be employed by certain entities is being determined in part by credit scores and their credit reports,” says Michelle Smoley, an accredited financial counselor in Elma, Iowa. “It’s really, really important for people to keep on top of their credit report and their credit scores because they’re used for more than just consumer lending purposes.”

Here’s how to figure out where your credit stands and what you can do to protect it over the next six months.

Inspect your credit reports

Pull your credit reports from the three main credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can use AnnualCreditReport.com to get free copies as often as once per week. Checking your reports yourself doesn’t directly affect your credit score, but it can help shed light on details that may be damaging your credit.

What should you look for? Make sure personal information, such as your name and address, is correct.

“Any errors or unusual information there might be a clue that somebody is trying to steal your identity,” says Bruce McClary, senior vice president of memberships and communications at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “It’s a tactic of identity thieves to apply for credit under P.O. boxes or addresses that are not really yours.”

Review the accounts and credit inquiries listed on your reports too. If negative items like bankruptcies or collections appear, make sure they aren’t outdated (most derogatory marks are supposed to fall off credit reports after seven years). Immediately file a dispute with the credit bureaus if you see anything inaccurate or unfamiliar. In many cases if the issue is corrected, “you’ll see a lift in your credit score,” McClary says.

Check your reports throughout the rest of the year — and beyond — for anything fishy. You can also protect yourself by freezing your credit, which blocks access to your reports.

Check your credit score

If you’re planning a big purchase, such as a car or home, knowing your credit score and whether you could positively impact it beforehand can help you get approved for credit or for a more favorable interest rate, Smoley says.

You won’t see credit scores on your credit reports, but you can get them elsewhere for free.

“So many people have access to either their FICO score or their VantageScore through their financial institution or their credit card,” Smoley says.

Generally, a score of 690 or higher puts you in a good position. But even if your credit score is strong, it isn’t guaranteed to stay that way. Always be thinking about how to keep your score at that level or grow it so you can qualify for the best possible deal when it comes time to apply for a loan or a line of credit, McClary says.

Knowing the factors that influence credit scores may guide you. Actions like paying your bills on time or becoming an authorized user on a relative’s credit card to expand your credit history can bump up your score.

Make a plan for your debt

Carrying debt can wreak havoc on your credit score because more than half of your score is based on two factors: whether you make payments on time and how much of your credit limit you use.

If you’ve lost track of your debt — maybe it’s been a while since you’ve made a payment on an account or it’s been passed around several debt collection agencies — your credit report can tell you who is managing that account and how much you owe, McClary says.

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Once you know what you’re dealing with, set due date reminders and try to make at least the minimum monthly payment on each account. Note that while medical debt may disappear from credit reports early next year, your obligation to pay it won’t.

Making extra payments on credit cards with high balances can help your score too. Keeping your credit utilization ratio below 30% is ideal.

Do your best to save up for purchases you’ll make in the often expensive second half of the year, and pay them off as soon as possible. Summer vacations, back-to-school spending and holiday shopping can put a strain on credit utilization.

If you shop for a mortgage or auto loan, limit applications to a 14-day period to avoid multiple hard pulls from lenders on your credit report, which hurt scores, Smoley says. Credit scoring models generally count all inquiries made within this time frame as a single hard pull.

Keep monitoring your credit health to avoid surprises at the end of the year. “If you don’t know where to start, you can talk to a nonprofit credit counseling agency,” McClary says. “A nonprofit credit counseling agency can work with you, first of all, to understand what you’re seeing on your credit report, and then understand your options for dealing with some of these things. So you don’t have to go through it alone.”

Lauren Schwahn writes for NerdWallet. Email: lschwahn@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @lauren_schwahn.

The article We’re Halfway Through 2024. It’s a Good Time to Check Your Credit originally appeared on NerdWallet.