For the first time in my life, I haven't been enrolled in classes, had homework to get done, chapters to read or tests to study for. And for the first time, my eyes have opened to see the effects that being in school has on student. People always stress the importance of taking care of yourself, you know, self-care type of things and paying attention to your mental health especially when you're in school as if students even have the time for that luxury?

Since being out of school, I've done so much to enlighten my life and I wouldn't have been able to really do any of them if I was in school!

Since then, I have...

began reading for fun again

joined fitness classes

learned how to cross-stitch

started learning a new language

practiced fitness at home

played outside for fun again

gotten a second job

binged tv shows without fear of missing homework

It just feels so good to do things for myself again. School is a full-time job and it sucks the "free time" from your life. Because even if you were doing fun things in your free time as a student, it really wasn't completely free because there was always some homework you could be doing or test you should be studying for. It was never really relaxing, it was just you choosing leisure over education (and you'd probably pay for it later). I also want to say that just because I'm not in school anymore doesn't mean I have to stop learning! Like I said, I've been reading and learning a new language because our brain is such a fantastic tool we have and wants to be used -so be your own teacher of new things!