You are standing in your room, dressed in cap and gown, peering into the mirror. The graduation party planned to the brink of fun begins in one hour, but thoughts of the party are shoved to the back of your mind. The next stage of life controls your thoughts.
After seemingly endless years of school, the coveted degree is now finally in your possession. What do you do now? Some say to take a break from school and take it easy working the fun resort job or even traveling the world.
But I say those plans are foolish.
Time wears on everyone. After four years or longer of study and practice, some want to take a break for a year or two.
You have worked too hard to take a break from your path. I don’t care what you do during such a break; it is a deviation from your course and a waste of time.
If the plan after earning a bachelor’s degree is to enter into graduate school, then don’t take a break. Your life has been constant school and a sabbatical sounds mighty tempting, but don’t do it. You have been in the grind for so long and are used to plowing through classes. Keep it that way, and you won’t regret it.
What is two to four more years of school? If you hate school, then imagine how hard it will be to come back after doing whatever you did during a break. Remember how hard it was to come back to your classes after fall break? Now multiply that feeling many times over—bad idea. Graduate school may even get thrown out the window.
Another option some play with is working a chill or fun job before entering a career, but why? A break can cause you to lose knowledge and skills that are necessary for your job. Start working for the job you have gone to school for. A long break seems to be a waste of time, energy and money.
One other reason some pitch for a break is to travel the world. This is the only option that makes any sense, but why take a year-long break to travel when you could travel over a summer?
Vacations are healthy and helpful for rejuvenating anyone who needs to get away from life, but they should only last a month or two at the most. I have been on a month-long trip before, and I got sick of it at the end. Hawaii gets old after two weeks. There is no place like home.
The reasons for a break after graduation don’t hold any weight in convincing me that it would be worth the time, energy and effort trying to recover from school.
Instead of a break, include trips, down time and fun into your schedule. Take some extra time to complete school instead of shutting down for a chunk of time away from it.
Do humanitarian and service opportunities during the summer or over school breaks instead of a year or two.
This way you will keep your skills and knowledge fresh while lessening the grind of school and work. Take a trip every now and then. Work less and include a little more play. Take one less class. Free up your schedule just slightly to include fun activities.
Live college to the fullest so you don’t feel the need to take a break in order to recover from it.
