“Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off.” Bill Gates set all fresh graduates back on their heels when he announced this essential life rule in one of his speeches. Yikes!
So, the summer after your graduation is officially and heartbreakingly your last long vacation, therefore, summers will no longer begin with finals and end with the start of a new semester. Instead, they’ll begin and end with… well, who knows?!
You’re so overwhelmed with the desire to start your new life that you can’t quite figure out what path to choose. Still, as that summer approaches, you may be feeling torn about this being your last chance to travel and spend weeks by the beach with no strings attached. What now?
To tell you the truth, there’s no right or wrong decision. We all run our lives in our own course, but if you’re lost, here is a fun productive and healthy scenario to help you figure out the best choice for you. We hope you find it useful:
1- Take A Moment To Adjust Into Your New Life
You’ve been a student for the past eighteen years of your life (maybe more) and now you’re not, that ought to be perturbing. Therefore, don’t jump right into the workforce after your graduation. It’s not for the sake of having a break, but you’re on the ending border of a very long stage in your life, and steps away from the beginning of another. You deserve a moment to look back, learn from your all your mistakes, clear your mind and then start moving again. Your life is about to change. Emotionally strong people don’t try to avoid change. Instead, they welcome positive change into their life and are willing to be flexible. So take your foot off the throttle and allow yourself to adapt to your new life and then roll with it! It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.
2- Dedicate Yourself To Enjoyment
There will never be another “last summer before starting a career” for you, so take advantage of it. What did Eleanor Roosevelt have to say about this? “Today is the oldest you’ve ever been, and the youngest you’ll ever be again.” Let’s not waste this opportunity, and make the best out of it.Water and summer are like vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, good on their own but better together. Go to the beach, stay up late to look at the stars, enjoy big dinners with your family, go on an adventure or travel on your own; this is a good time in your life to do those things. After this summer, life will never be the same and I mean that in so many good ways. The time you will steal from life is meaningful, freeing, and a great way to get out of the college bubble! Treasure this advantage but don’t abuse it.
3- Use The Break As A Fuel To Push You Forward
This pause is your breathing space to recharge your battery but beware it is a double-edge sword. It will allow you to decompress and prepare for your next big move, but also if you weren’t careful enough, it might make it really hard for you to get going afterward. Do you know what happens to your car battery when you stop driving it for a while? It goes power-hungry and then fails to function. Same thing applies to you; you shouldn’t allow this.
Don’t let the temptations of today and the fear of going back to the stressful world distract you from what you deserve.
First lesson you must learn from your last summer is to take control; stop saying “I wish” and start saying “I will.” Turn your “can’ts” into “cans” and your dreams into plans. Your last summer is your opportunity to gather your strength, not to draw you back from the real world.
4- Go On A Hunt For Your Dream Job
The main reason purging into the workforce right after your graduation is not the wisest of steps is for you to take the time to dig in and discover what you really want from your life. This is your first time ever to be duty-free; there are no exams to study for or assignments to hand over. You have the time to really figure out what your plan should be. Some believe that experience is the best way to learn what you really love. I agree, but still that doesn’t mean you should jump into the earliest opportunity for the sake of just working. Find what you love now and do it, maybe in a few months you will discover that it isn’t what you want, but you won’t know until you try. Take the time to figure out what your path might be, search on the Internet, talk with older people, read books, the floor is yours. By doing so, you won’t have to guess what your goal in this life is, you will know. Don’t go with the flow and don’t give a single thought to those who furrow their brows disapprovingly of your choices. We work to have freedom, not to let the cultural pressures chain us.
Happy summer graduates.
