You have most likely been in school since you were five years old. You're in your early twenties now and you have had small two month stretches of time where you haven't been taking classes or worrying about school. For some college kids, those two-month breaks didn't even happen in college because you took summer classes in order to finish faster.
Now it's here, you're finally graduating. You are expected to find a real job or go directly to grad school. You are not expected to take a break and just enjoy not being a student for even a little while.
But why shouldn't you?
You've been working hard for over 15 years now. You've been writing papers, making presentations, taking tests, and overall stressing about graduating for over a decade. And now you've earned what you worked for. You've got your degree. Maybe you finished early or maybe you finished on time or you maybe even took a little longer and graduated a late. Either way, you've finished.
Why do you need to jump into the real world?
Why can't you sit back and take a few months to relax and not be a student for a little while? Because it's not what's expected of you? Because society thinks that there is a timeline set out for you and you have to follow it?
Well, you've got your degree. You're over eighteen. You're officially an adult now in every sense of the word. If you can afford it why not do exactly what you want to do? Take some time off and make a plan. Decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. Move to wherever you think you want to live. Find a perfect job opportunity and apply. Sleep in for once. Look at possible graduate schools. Keep looking for what you really want.
You've just spent over 15 years in school. You are most likely tired and burnt out. You are more likely to be successful and find an opportunity that you REALLY want if you take your time and look at all the options that the college degree you worked for can now give you.
This is the perfect time to find your passion that hopefully is centered on your new degree and if you're passionate about it no amount of time will take that away.
Taking a month off will not take it away. It will be there for you when you're ready to start "adulting."
Take the time to intern, build various skills that will make you more marketable, and keep learning.
This time will help you find what makes you truly happy.
Stop worrying about what other people think. You've worked hard and you deserve a break. Take a month or two off. Plan what you want for the rest of your life. You will have more time and be much happier with the decision you come up with.
It's your life, your choice, and you have every right to make the right choice for YOU.
