3 Words a Recent Grad Hates: “Back to School”

So there is only about a month left of Summer and you’ve already been spotting those three dreaded words everywhere – “Back to School.”

They are on the front page of every catalog that comes in the mail… They are the headline on every magazine starring back at you in line at the grocery store… And they are spoken on television commercials and news shows. Even our beloved shopping website, Rue La La, held a “back to college” boutique – which was quite the mood killer for us recent grads.

When you were growing up the words “end of summer” really meant “back to school.” Well, that isn’t the case anymore. The end of summer has a totally different meaning now. It doesn’t mean back to homework and extracurricular activities… And it doesn’t mean packing up your car and moving into your dorm room or apartment. It also doesn’t mean back to being busy during your week, because you worked Monday through Friday all summer anyway.

So since we’re not going “back to school,” what does the end of summer mean? Umm, pretty much TWO things: 1. a change in temperature and 2. the end of a laid back work environment (aka summer fridays, half days, and everyone always being on vacation). HOWEVER, some people live in places where its always hot… and some people work in places where it is always busy… so for these people, the end of summer doesn’t really mean anything.

Now, you can say “summer doesn’t exist after college,” but it does. Your weekends become much more sacred than they are in the winter. And you (kind of) have more money to do more summer-related fun things. So there is that benefit.

Last summer, I spent my days job searching and tanning, so I thought this summer (my first one with a job) would be brutal. I was convinced that I wouldn’t get a tan and I would still be miserable when all the college students went back “home.” Well, good news twenty somethings – I have a tan AND I’m not bothered by the fact that people are going back to school. Your first summer out of college is probably the hardest when you see everyone go back to college and realize that you are now a real person. But you get over that quick once you realize if you actually went back to college now, you would feel really old. At least at work you get to feel like a child again.

For recent grads, not going back to school and not experiencing at least SOME change at the end of summer may be hard to get used to… Your life is no longer on a schedule and there is no written date for the last day of your job. But that only means your life is now super spontaneous. Just think – soon enough, you will be getting your kids ready to go back to school. So even though you won’t actually be the one going back to school – your kids will, which will once again put your life on a schedule. This is why you should be taking chances right now. Because soon enough, you won’t be able to ignore those 3 haunting words – “back to school” – that simply mean “freedom” for us recent grads right now!

So enjoy this time of freedom and spontaneity while it lasts. That’s what your twenties are for!