As summer nears each year, students eager to wrap up the school year must face one final challenge before being allowed a rest: answering the infamous question that brings even TJ students to their knees.

“Should I do actual work this summer, or be lazy?”

While half the student body will inevitably spend summer marathoning every show available on Netflix Instant, the other half will be off to the workforce, ready for the many opportunities there are out there for them to experience.

“I know there are a lot of opportunities around the area,” Career Center specialist Karen Burke said. “There’s a website called Volunteer Fairfax, which is really good because you can select the area you want, the type of work you want to do, and it will come out with a list of different opportunities you can do. Otherwise, not necessarily employment or [volunteer work], but there are a lot of summer programs at colleges, so if students are looking to get a jump start, or they just want to learn more about a particular subject, they can do that at a lot of the area colleges.”

Websites like Monster.com or Snagajob.com are also some of the best ways to find actual paying jobs online. The Classifieds section of many newspapers has a wide assortment of internship opportunities as well. Magazines usually also have sections dedicated to general work.

“In the Reston Magazine, there’s a whole section, maybe three pages, just on volunteer opportunities,” special education teacher Kimberly Small said. “From pulling weeds, to being a stream monitor, and then for every festival we have [the organizers] look for volunteer opportunities. It’s all laid out in the magazine.”

Volunteering doesn’t pay, but is highly valued by colleges and employers as it shows dedication and caring.

Internships are great for work experience and networking, but rarely pay a decent amount, if at all.

Actual paying jobs bring in income, but don’t always provide the same experience as internships or volunteering.

Students interested in preserving their network bandwidth should take the time to explore all these opportunities and make a decision as to what type of work will best suit their plans for the future.