Hey friends! I am Muhammet, a junior management student.
The USA : Work and Travel
In this section, I want to share the story of a special summer I spent with my sister, detailing our experiences from a broader perspective. My sister and I embarked on a Work and Travel journey with three main goals: practicing our English, earning money for our future plans, and experiencing another culture in an international setting.
We were excited to work in Outer Banks, North Carolina, and travel across the USA , which was an incredible adventure. However, we underestimated some challenges that awaited us.
When we finally arrived in the USA, we started working at one job, and soon took on a couple of others. We ended up working 16 to 17 hours a day, which left us completely burned out. There were days when we just wanted to go home and prayed for the summer to end. We barely had any free time for ourselves, as we were focused on earning as much as possible. I lost count of how many mornings I said, "Okay, enough—I just want to sleep," but I couldn’t give up. Thankfully, my sister’s support made everything a little easier.
There were moments when things felt overwhelmingly hard. For example, some customers were sometimes rude, but as cashiers, we had to keep smiling and assist them—it was part of our job. Other times, we felt our supervisors were unfair, but we had to find ways to cope, handle the situation, but also make our voices heard. Despite the challenges, I can say that summer 2024 was one of the most transformative periods of my life. Working three jobs alongside people from diverse nations taught me invaluable lessons.
At the beginning, our goal was simple and clear: to earn money and gain experience. But by the end of the summer, I realized that the most important part of the journey was the experience itself. Money and other goals were secondary; the memories and lessons we gained will stay with us for a lifetime. Interestingly, after returning to our home country, my sister and I found ourselves missing our time in the USA from the very first day—even though it was such a tough summer. I would love to go back and visit Outer Banks again someday, and I hope I will.
I want to thank everyone who made the summer of 2024 special, especially my sister Öznur and my family, who supported us every step of the way.
This is an addition to my Work and Travel blog (you can check it out if you’re interested in the program), and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!