Up until your college graduation, a large portion of your time has been spent furthering your education. While post-graduation feels great because you can stop worrying about attending classes, paper deadlines, and finals week, it’s important you continue your education in some other way. You might be done with a formal education, but you need to keep learning even after graduation. There are plenty of invaluable reasons to continue your education; here are just a few of them.

Career advancement

One of the biggest benefits of continued education after official graduation is how it can help your career. No matter what your job is, there’s more you can learn and there’s someplace to advance to. Maybe you want to get promoted, but lack management skills or another business skill. You might want to pursue an entirely new career, but lack some of the necessary skills. Luckily, by continuing your education, you have opportunities to learn more skills and pursue a new direction in your career. It also showcases your work ethic to your boss and proves that you care about your job and can work hard.

Improves your mind

Plenty of studies have shown the benefits reading and continuous learning have on your mind and overall health. You strengthen your mind, which can help reduce memory loss. You’ll find it’s easier to recall facts and teach yourself other skills if you make a point to keep learning. While general learning is also helpful, you can teach yourself specific skills that help prevent other health issues, such as reducing stress or learning about proper exercise and nutrition.

Makes you interesting

The last kind of person you want to be is someone others find boring to talk to. Whether it’s a conversation with your family, friends, or strangers, continually educating yourself provides you with insightful ideas and interesting topics to discuss. You never know when some interesting fact or skill you learned could come in handy. Being able to hold an interesting conversation improves your personal and professional lives as well.

Discover new passions

You might not realize you’re incredibly interested in photography or the history of Australia until you begin teaching yourself about it. Even if a topic doesn’t seem like something you’d really want to learn about, try reading a book or taking an online class about it. You never know what strikes your interest or where it’ll take you.

Learn useful skills

Unfortunately, most schools do not teach students basic life skills. Once you graduate, you’ll realize you need to know a lot of information no one told you about, like signing a lease, filing taxes, opening a credit card, or maintaining upkeep on your home. Take time to read books, blogs, or watch videos that address these issues. Any question you might have about a certain life skill can be found either in your local library or online, so teach yourself these skills and make your life that much less stressful.