It’s already March, and it seems like everyone around you is starting to finalize plans for this summer. You may feel like most deadlines have passed and you’re one of the last people to apply for internships, study abroad programs, and jobs, but you’re wrong. You’ve looked at all the usual suspects—OCS, lists provided by departments and extracurriculars, etc.—but there are still tons of places to look for summer opportunities that you may not have considered.

The first step is to ask your friends. This may seem like obvious advice, but given Harvard’s competitive environment, we often forget how much help everyone is willing to offer if we only ask. What did they do last summer, or the one before? Are there any especially interesting companies, organizations, or institutions in their city? What did their older siblings do over the summer when they were in college? Do their parents work in a field that interests you? Ask your friends here, but also at other schools. Many other colleges and departments have useful lists of programs only accessible to students at those universities. If you’re lucky and ask nicely, your friends might be willing to let you in on a few secrets.

You might also want to ask the professors who teach the classes you are most interested in. Some professors would absolutely love to have help (especially unpaid) from an enthusiastic student, and those who don’t need it may have suggestions for other people to contact. Your TFs, too, are an especially valuable resource. As grad students, they were very recently in your shoes and often have wonderful advice.

In today’s economic climate, nearly all internships available to college students are unpaid. Look carefully at information provided by each organization you’re considering; many require less than three days or so of work a week, leaving you free to pursue a part-time job. Don’t totally dispense with the idea of returning to a job you held over the summer in high school, either—more and more students are returning home over the summer due to financial considerations, and the idea of hanging out with old friends while making money sounds pretty appealing, right?

Speaking of home, what were your favorite places to go and things to do as a kid? It can be incredibly fun to work at a place you’ve loved your whole life, and many of these places probably have job openings and volunteer opportunities. Even if you can’t find information about internships or jobs online or in any of the official materials an organization provides, many companies and programs (especially smaller ones) are very grateful for the help of a smart and hardworking student (again, especially a student who doesn’t expect to be paid). Broaden your search horizons. For example, if you are interested in public relations, many museums and larger art galleries have PR departments where you’d get experience just as useful as the kind you might get at a large PR firm. Also, consider pursuing an interest you have long had as a hobby but that isn’t necessarily related to your concentration or intended career field.

Looking to do something overseas? While the deadline for most Harvard study abroad programs has passed, many schools have equally exciting opportunities that are still accepting applications. You can start with the list of approved programs on the OIP website (http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~oip/approved_programs_summer/summer.html), but I encourage you to dig around on other schools’ sites. While the deadline for credit transfer at the OIP was on March 1, there are tons of amazing programs that are non-academic; think art workshops or volunteer work.

Whatever you do, get started now! March and April are full of application deadlines; don’t let them pass you by. Diversify your options and don’t set your heart on one specific opportunity; it’s a cliché, but the most fun and rewarding experiences are often the ones we never saw ourselves in to begin with. Take initiative and send out some emails. You may be surprised by just how easy starting the whole process can b