Kassidy Brown: The lull of life after school

Jan. 28—Having graduated college less than a year ago, I have noticed a confusion and lull in my life that I can't seem to understand.

I was very excited to be done with school once I had completed all of the work I needed to finish for my degree and still am glad that I don't have the worry of school work and grades on my back anymore, but I think that has caused an emptiness in my life.

I think this is something that many recent college and high-school graduates that go straight into the workforce can understand because for your entire life you are dictated by a full-time student career along with any extracurriculars that you may do.

Once you start working, the business of life slows down significantly.

I don't mean the schedule of work either because there are deadlines that you have to meet at work just like school, but for the most part, after you get off work, you don't have much to do other than the normal, domestic tasks.

I think the transition has been really odd for me because I was always so busy growing up from elementary school all the way through college.

I was pretty much a straight A student all through school which kept me busy with making sure school work was done and correct, and some studying for standardized testing.

I was a student-athlete since I was able to participate in sports starting with softball and dance classes when I was really young to playing basketball, volleyball, and tennis in middle and high school.

I also played volleyball and tennis in college as well.

College is where I got really busy in playing two sports, taking full course loads, working a part-time job, and doing two internships.

Through the years in college I did not have a lot of down time, so I got really used to just being go, go, go all the time.

I never really noticed how much I did until I didn't have to do it anymore.

After graduating and getting my full-time job with the Daily Telegraph, it was like my life hit the brakes hard.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the extra free time to go out and travel a bit and go do fun things like concerts and little outings, but in the times between that, it is very odd to say the least.

I don't have things that fill all my afternoons and evenings like going to practice or games or doing homework did.

I find that I will relax for a bit and be able to enjoy the downtime, but after a while, I get in these states of "purpose searching" which is the best way for me to describe the feeling.

During these episodes, I tend to deep clean my room, bathroom, and sometimes the kitchen or other rooms in my house.

There is no set pattern or time frame that these happen in, but I just know that it has happened more than once since finishing my degree.

I'm sure it's just one of those things that could be fixed by getting a hobby, but the hard part is that I had hobbies for years that have just abruptly ended.

That's quite a big change from doing something for almost every day for about 16 years to not doing it at all.

I think this would be an interesting study for someone to do something on.

I also think this phenomenon can be compared to professional athletes and people in other everyday jobs having trouble after retirement.

Routines can be saviors in people's lives, but ending them can also cause a lot of confusion and maybe a little emptiness.

I guess the next step for me is to find something to fill my newfound free time.

— Kassidy Brown is the Daily Telegraph's Feature's Editor. Contact her at kbrown@bdtonline.com.