Time off provides a necessary break from “˜hustle’ of life after graduation

By Scott Lee

“What are you going to do after you graduate?” my
mom asked.

“I plan on taking some time off to clear my head and
figure out the rest of my life. Maybe I’ll travel a bit, or
be a ski bum for a season,” I answered.

“No,” my mom responded promptly, “you need to
do the hustle and get a job.”

“Do the hustle”: three words that have haunted me
throughout my life. In my family, to “do the hustle”
simply means to work hard to achieve greatness. It has become a
standard of living similar to the “Survivor” motto:
outwit and outplay to become the best. I did the hustle in high
school ““ getting good grades to get into UCLA. I worked my
butt off to complete three internships by my sophomore year.
I’ve managed to graduate in four years. After years of hard
work and mental anguish, I ask: Isn’t a break from the real
world a necessity to regroup and recoup?

Taking time off after graduation can be healthy and beneficial.
It provides the opportunity for self-discovery, allowing ordinary
people to figure out their desires and goals. Most of us have had
full schedules during our 17 years of schooling. Between studying,
partying, dating, and working, we really haven’t had the time
to see if we are making the right choices. Taking a break will
allow us to examine our previous accomplishments and troubles,
helping us decide our futures. Do we continue on our current life
path, or do we make a change? As the great Ferris Bueller once
said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and
look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Taking time off also allows us to escape the terrors of the
horrific job market. Recent studies have shown that the
unemployment rate is up to 6 percent, with more than 2 million
people out of work for over 27 weeks, the highest since 1984. Even
if we wanted to get a job, we couldn’t find one. An
additional 4.4 million Americans have dropped out of the labor
force because they haven’t found work. Businesses and the
government have trimmed their payrolls by 48,000.

What’s the rush to get a regular 9-to-5 job? Don’t
we have the rest of our lives to work? The average age of
retirement is 67. Therefore, if we start working immediately after
graduation, that’s more than 40 years in the workforce. A
couple of months away isn’t going to hurt anyone. Instead, it
could potentially give you thousands of wonderful memories and
experiences that will last a lifetime. Imagine traveling around the
world. Great stories will emerge, new friends will be met, and
exotic places will be seen. And in five years, you will be making
the same amount of money as everyone who started working
immediately.

There should be one more big rite of passage before we enter the
real world ““ before the job market, grad school and marriage
““ that defines our characters and opens our eyes to new
possibilities. Bar mitzvahs, confirmations, and, of course, turning
21 all mark the move from adolescence to adulthood. However, taking
a break after we graduate will help us transform our youthful
innocence into mature responsibility. One last adventure will make
us better people by molding our characters and expanding our
horizons. Working in Jamaica as a bartender, skiing all winter in
Colorado, watching the Palio horse race in Siena, even hitting on a
British girl in London will help you develop your personality.

So Mom, I’m taking a year off. I’d rather take those
memories to the bank instead of a measly paycheck.