Let me tell you it’s kinda hard. It sounds so easy because you get to sleep in and travel and socialize as much as you want. (And believe me, I did. Check my Instagram.) But with everyone in your life bestowing upon you all this advice that they expect you to heed and all of your friends getting jobs so you get an answer to a text five hours later much less hang out after. So it’s hard.

But the advice I actually took into consideration was to wait and be patient. Which is really hard as a former college girl that moves a mile a minute. The waiting time is different for every person. People told me to get into charity work, backpack the world, and learn to be patient with life. And all those options sounded incredibly rewarding and fun, but I was not sure of it because I felt like I had to do what my peers were doing. Ultimately, it took me the summer to realize that I didn’t.

So as fate would have it, I ended up taking some down time this summer, unemployed. I almost got back to a life or rediscovered the calm side of myself when I was not busy with school or study abroad applications or internship positions.

This summer I have remembered how to love my life and myself first; and then my job and career prospects, which are also so important to me. I have found the balance between keeping my aims within my career as well as my goals outside my career.

Coming from a big family that resides all across the world, I was able to spend time with them these past couple months. If I began working right away, I would not have been able to cultivate those relationships as well as experience life in another country. This summer, I also rediscovered my hobbies of writing and painting – all the things you wanted to pursue but never had the time. It was enlightening because I found that passion again for something other than my future, but myself.

This summer has taught me to judge myself by my own standards instead of everyone else’s. Society will try to conform you sometimes: go to college, get good grades, work in internships, graduate and then start the nine to five. It is always about the next step.

And in some cases, people have no choice but to start working immediately or are so eager that they start right away. There is nothing wrong with that; it’s what is right for them. But I needed the summer off to take a break. And I am blessed to be able to afford such a luxury.

In the end (as in right now), I am still unemployed searching for a job, but I have grown up a bit more by "sitting at home and doing nothing" because I have found the balance between my career goals and personal goals. I feel more confident in what I aim for next and will do so with more passion, rather than because it's "the next step." I now have the freedom to live a life on my own terms moving forward.