Escaping the Bookfield
First of all: thank you for the site. I experienced exactly the same thing that all testimonies say about.
I worked for SW during summer 2005. I lasted two weeks in the book field. It took me three weeks to really leave the job. Happily, I found A COUPLE of other great summer jobs! And I was one of a few people from Poland that did not go home after a month. The other guys had to borrow money from their parents to pay off their debts and buy tickets to Poland.
The experience was horrible - but I have to say it was the best summer of my life! After a couple of weeks of crying (I still can't believe my condition then), not eating, being lonely and exhausted I finally decided to run from this company and to try to escape to my aunt in Canada. But I had no visa... So I thought of my father's friend in Chicago - maybe he could hide me from my manager? What I want to say is that for the first couple of days, when I was thinking of resigning, it never occurred to me that I had the right to leave. Why was it that a problem for me? Now I know, that I was tricked by them to believe I'd be weak if I did this, and that I had no honor. But seriously, was I all that? I found a common job, people didn't dislike me, and I had time and money to have a great time. I paid my debts to my parents, who bought me a ticket to the US (mind you, this was a lot of money for a Polish student). I learned not to believe anything Southwestern said. I did some traveling in the country. I made a couple of friends... Basically, I'll repeat myself, the best summer ever!
So, my advice to all the European students interested in the SW summer program is: if they are using you for their own profit – use them! They don't pay for anything, but they helped in getting a J1 student visa and a social security number. Lie to them, cheat. And then, when you get there, just find a proper job! And don't treat working for SW as a religion or anything like this! They really don't care if you leave. They'll get less money, but they'll survive. And you have to too.
