The Pressure to always be doing
What I'm doing in my month off at home
In November I finally finished my degree and I am graduating tomorrow! However this is not the end of study for me, I plan to pursue my Masters starting at the end of February. Having almost 4 months break from study brings the age old question:
How should I spend my time?
Always be doing Something
This year I am taking a completely different approach to the break. For the past 4 years of study in high school and uni I have worked the whole summer. I had a goal of saving up enough to cover my tuition costs for the following year of uni. However this summer I am not working. Or at least not to that degree. I have been working 1 or 2 days a week. And working this much is not because there are no hours available. Its because I want a break.
I don’t think taking a summer off is unusual where I live. Maybe society expects young people to work hard all the time. But I’ve got a few weird responses to this decision.
Why would I choose to work less? What could I possibly be doing that is so important? Unfortunately none of my answers seem to satisfy the interrogators.
And this brings to light a deeper issue. Why is work and study so important that one can’t have a few months off to recharge and relax. Why is there so much pressure on young people to always be performing? Why do we always have to be doing things?
Why can’t we just be.
It's not like I’m doing “nothing”. I’m just not doing activities that are perceived as work. And there's something wrong with that?
Maybe it's only me who is experiencing this pressure but even so, I should be allowed to take a break in peace. I should be able to do what I want without feeling like I’m missing out on opportunities or wasting my life away.
If you have had an experience like this, just know that it’s alright to take a break, do something you enjoy and make a new plan of what to do next. From now on I’m going to stop letting negative comments get to me and be happy that I am so privileged to be able to take some time off.
What am I doing in my break?
One reason I wanted to take a break was so that I could have space to figure out if I really wanted to do a masters. There are so many pros and cons to doing a masters and I wanted some time away from study to reflect and ponder my options. Not only am I thinking about doing a masters but also deciding what major. I did my bachelors in chemistry but I’m not sure if I want to continue doing chemistry or switch majors to a related field such as biomedical science or food science. I want some time after the high of graduation and after the lows in my degree to make an informed decision.
But thinking about my university education is not all I’m doing. I am also finding time to do everything I didn’t have time for during the semester. Doing hobbies, embracing summer and the Christmas seasons and just taking time to relax and recharge.
Isn’t it amazing I have the time and space to do that.
Thank you for reading this, I really appreciate it. I’m just so happy I am able to sit down here and write this. Just know you don’t always have to be doing “something”. It's fine to pause on life, take a break and make a new plan. It's always better to take a break than to burnout.