During my sophomore summer of college I was driving my friends from downtown Atlanta where we lived to the suburbs. We were going to spend the day at my parents' pool and just relax.

At a stop light just off the exit I checked my BlackBerry (how times have changed) and saw a random email from a Microsoft recruiter in my student inbox. It was generic and unspecific, but basically said "go here to learn about Microsoft internships on your campus."

I looked up from my phone and told my friends "Guys, I just got an email from Microsoft. I have to get this job."

We showed up at my parents' house and I got them settled at the pool as quickly as possible. I logged into email and was inundated with a barrage of application questions including a required 60-second video describing why I'd be a great candidate.

This had to be taken care of, immediately.

Long story short I spent 4 hours applying to the internship and my friends have never let it go, including my girlfriend at the time. Ultimately that relationship didn't work out, but at least I got the job.

While the "opportunity" may have only been an internship, I leveraged it to get my first job at a startup after graduation. Thus, the ROI has been tremendous.

The only opportunities you 'get' are the ones you 'take.'