A full 365 days of hibernation. Nothing but sleep. No, that's not exactly what I intended in writing this.
When a person takes a nap or goes to sleep, they rest their mind and recharge or reset themselves after a long and tiring day. After being pushed, prodded, and exerting so much mental and physical energy there is nothing better then laying down in one spot, closing your eyes, and drifting off into an easy and relaxing state. When a person goes without sleep for too long, they get over tired, make silly mistakes, and tend to get incredibly cranky. It makes sense after going and going and going all day long! Which is exactly what I have been doing for the last 5 years.
After my junior year of high school, I only needed a few credits left in order to graduate. Therefore, to avoid paying for another year of expensive private Catholic school, I finished the few credits I had left in the month of June and graduated with my high school diploma on July 1st. Here I had a few options, I could take a year and save up for college, I could take just a semester and save and go to school that December, or I could do the truly crazy route and attempt to get into and go to college over the next month and a half. I decided to push myself and applied to a school with rolling admission that I could start at and eventually transfer to a different college.
However, I ended up absolutely falling in love with the school and I stayed for the next four years and took every class I could. The first 2 years, I didn't take under 18 credit hours, and for the second two years I worked 40 hour weeks and still did 15 credit hours of classes. Push. Push. Push. By graduation, I was exhausted. I collapsed at the finish line with no energy left to get up. Everyone around me was starting careers, getting amazing jobs, moving to new cities and I was stuck in one place with no idea where to go. Frozen and for the first time standing completely still. Recently, a current student asked me "So, wait, you didn't go out and get, like, a real job?". I was stunned into silence and frankly pretty hurt. Managing at a coffee shop isn't actually a real job by most standards, so she was technically right in asking this.
But over the next few weeks, the more I thought about it, the more I have come to terms with the fact that maybe taking a brief nap for this year isn't the worst thing. It means saving money, being a bit spontaneous, and actually having days of adventures and fun. But here's the thing, if you are one of those out there that feels like you are lost for a bit, or that you don't have direction. Here's a secret, its okay. We don't have to have it all figured out yet! Is it uncomfortable after being so motivated? You bet. But overall, my year of resetting and recharging, and frankly napping, is soothing to the soul.
