Your free time is only limited by the time you give yourself. It's cool because I wasn't really used to free time. In the fall and spring there was always homework, work, and socializing, and in the summer it was generally the same. During the summers I wasn't taking online courses, I nabbed as many hours at work as I could. Now that I'm free from the burden of studying (which is the best feeling in the world, by the way), I have my days to do what I want. Of course, instead of class and homework, there is my job, which means I have a schedule that revolves around something other than studying.
Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator
Even if work isn't the most exciting thing to base my week on, it still beats having to organize my time based on my workload from school. Homework became a constant, dull buzz in the back of my mind. If I was did something fun, I felt like I should have been working more on a paper or something. I've been working on trying to leave work at work and not letting it interfere with my personal life. The more I separate my personal life and work life, the easier it is to enjoy my free time.
I have always been a creative person, but until I graduated and started rediscovering my talents, I didn't know what I could do as an artist. I haven't truly pushed myself in any creative endeavor for a long time. Now that I consistently do it, I feel that I am using my time constructively, which makes me feel good about myself. I feel even better because it is something I can be proud of.
One thing I always looked forward to post-college was binge watching Netflix. I didn't really binge watch TV shows during school. I always wondered what it felt like to watch hours of Netflix at a time. The thought of having nothing to do--or deciding to just relax for a day--seemed like a special kind of nirvana. If I tried that when I was in school, I would have made it through maybe an episode before turning off the TV out of guilt for not getting something done. While I am still about a decade behind everyone else, I am slowly catching up.
Nothing is more satisfying than seeing the university's parking lots packed full with cars and knowing I don't have to do battle every day just to find a parking space. That feeling of knowing I don't have to take another test, write another paper, or do another math assignment ever again. I savored it for so long at the beginning. But at the same time, it's not just that. It felt so freeing and new and exciting. It isn't so much being done with school as it is knowing, finally, what it feels like to not be a student. I always wondered what life was like outside that of a student. And I mean, life isn't all that great sometimes--working full time can be a real drag. But the amount of time I finally can spend is finally being spent on myself, which in turn lets me develop as an individual. For years, I put aside my hobbies and interests because I didn't have the time or energy to invest in them. Now I can, and the payoff has been immediately clear to me. While I do miss the routine of school and love learning new things on the daily, I finally get to live in a world outside of the campus bubble.
Maybe one day I'll decide I'm bored of my new routines and find the thought of school appealing again. Perhaps the busy parking lots and the never-ending stream of homework will become of small consequence if I decide to enroll again. For now, though, I will enjoy myself in the present, for that is what it is.
