It is finally getting warmer outside as the sun is staying up to almost 6 p.m. Birds are beginning to chirp and some early blooming trees are starting to be covered with flowers. This can only mean one thing: spring is coming! College students reemerge from their rooms and the Netflix binge-watching is slightly decreased. However, this also means something else: mid-terms are right around the corner!
Students are beginning to stress and worry about upcoming tests, projects, papers, and grades that can determine if they get an A, B, C or worse in a class. All of my friends are stressed and they stay up well past midnight to study these days, but I don't have to worry about this because I'm two months removed from undergrad (this feels so strange to say).
Graduating early without all of my friends was weird, but it's even weirder when I see them on a regular basis as I still live near my old school. They stress over assignments, homework, presentations, and tests that I don't have anymore. I feel bad that my friends and many other college students are pulling their hair out over memorizing dates and facts because I was offered a job with a company that allows me to work at home with occasional travel. I do what I have to do and then it's done. I can almost completely set my own hours and, most of the time, I finish for the day by no later than 4 p.m. It is a luxury to have so much "me time" to do anything I want.
However, I have been working for two months. Two months and I am done with my gap year. I miss going to lectures, discussing ideas, reading novels and articles I would not have read otherwise. I miss learning so much. I never realized how much I enjoyed engaging in new topics and areas of study until I missed it. Don't get me wrong, I like not being broke anymore, but the purpose of taking a gap year was to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and I have accomplished that.
In a way, I am jealous of my friends that are cramming for their midterms and writing papers on bacterial sporulation, 17th-century poetry, and sports reporting. The stress and tests weren't the most fun thing in the world, but I find new information amazing and when I learn something new or think a different way, I am still struck with awe and fascination. I know most college students might be a little jealous of me for graduating and finding a decent job right out of college, but I would gladly switch places with them.
Two months out of college, and I am counting down the days until I go back to graduate school. Remember the good days of undergrad and don't be in a hurry to jump ahead. Live in the moment while you can!
