Graduation Season is upon us. Most schools finished up this weekend or last and have been having tons of senior and graduate events and their commencement ceremonies. Schools on trimesters or quarters are likely to graduate early to mid June. No matter when graduation season is for your school, it's easy for those who aren't graduating to feel bogged down and depressed or like they're not good enough or aren't progressing fast enough. You might not even be in college or want to graduate from college but I'm sure four years after high school ended, your newsfeed is bursting with graduation photos and posts. This can cause a lot of people to ask you when you'll be graduated, why you're not or what your next move is. Here are a few things to think about and potential responses to curious minds.
1. Good Things Take Time
Perfect and easy response for those nosy Aunts or acquaintances from your hometown. College is not a race and neither is life after graduation. College takes money and time even just to apply or to fill out forms and documents. Sometimes your high school has a hold on transcripts which can make it virtually impossible to apply to college, you may need to save up for tuition and living expenses, you may not be ready to commit to four plus years of schooling, you might want to decide on a major first, join the working world, you may be caring for sick relatives or just need personal time off. Whatever your reason for taking your time enrolling, completing a degree, or deciding if college is for you, it's okay because it's your experience and good things take time.
2. I Want to be debt-free
Your financial affairs are no one's business and no one ever has the right to prod you for more information about your finances. With college and living expenses having a higher price tag than ever before, telling someone simply you want to be debt free as a reason to why you're not enrolled or why you're only taking one class at a time or took a semester off is a great explanation. Student loans are an added stress to anyone thinking about college because unless you have a ton of money saved, a lot of scholarships lined up, or unlimited funds to use on college—you'll have to take loans out and those interest rates are serious. There's nothing wrong with not wanting to commit to thousands of dollars of student loans that you can't afford and if you think it's better to save up or to wait, than you're right. What's best for you is what's best for you and other people's thoughts about that are not helpful.
3. I've been too busy living to graduate in four years
As someone who took a year off of school due to financial problems, moved across the country by myself and had a baby all in one year. I know that you need those extra semesters or years off. I went back to school full time with a two month old and two full time jobs and completely overworked myself. I did it and was successful because I had a lot of supportive family members to help with child care, transportation and meal prep but if you don't have those options there's nothing wrong with taking time off. College will always be there but your kids will only be newborns once and you shouldn't feel bad about taking time off to spend time with them or to spend time helping your sister with her kids, or taking care of your mom or looking after your cousins. Life happens and college will be there when you're ready for it. My peers may have a degree this year but I'll have mine next year and a healthy and happy three year old.
4. I found something that really interested me
Whether you changed your major six times or just once or whether you fell in love with a job, community organization or family role, these can add a few years to your degree if you still aim to pursue one. It's okay to find something you really love and that sparks your interest and explore that field rather than rushing to get a bachelors degree in Whatever Studies. Explore what you like and what makes you want to learn first and you can always go back and get a degree in something similar. Also, if you changed your major and are now a year or two behind your graduating class, you don't need to overload yourself with extra classes and summer school if you don't have to. Your friends are going to graduate and you can still attend their graduations, be part of the festivities, stay in touch with them and graduate at your own pace. You will be much happier when you graduate in a field of study you love than one you hate or just followed through with to graduate at the same time as your peers.
Take your time and remember self care is so important in college. It's totally okay to decide college is not for you or that you want extended time off. College will always be there if you change your mind and it's not a race to graduate. Work at your own pace and don't overload yourself. Your sanity is important and working on you is even more important than getting a diploma.
