I took this semester off due to burnout and high stress, now im working full time. How do I deal with the feelings of guilty for graduating later than planned. Its only a semester extra, but I feel terrible about it. The good news is I got to try out a career I enjoy.
Sounds like you are using the semester off productively. Many people take more than 4 years to complete a degree. Don’t be too hard on yourself.
Are you earning a basic living wage? Learning useful new skills and maturing? Getting your optimism and health back? Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel?
As long as the answer is “yes” to any of these and no one is getting hurt, then you made the right choice. Life is not a race! But if it were, you might actually be further ahead than if you had stayed and deteriorated in grades, health or happiness. You may graduate so much more resume-ready and interiew-ready than had you finished school straight through in a stew of burnout. My advice would be to make the most of this time in the healthiest and most responsible way you can, and go back next year refreshed and ready to complete your degree. It’s OK…it’s more than OK 
Many, many, many students take longer than 4 years – a semester one way or another will not make any difference to an employer. What will make a difference to you is the professional insight and experience you gained during your semester off. Chin up! That puts you AHEAD of the game.
It looks like you will take 8 semesters but with a gap semester in the middle.
Guilty is the last word I’d use to describe your situation. IMO you should feel very proud of yourself.
Proud that you figured out that you were burnt-out and took action – you didn’t wait for your academics to come crashing down.
Proud that you found a productive use for your semester off.
Proud that you have found a career you enjoy before graduating college.
Proud that you will soon be a college graduate.
At some point you will turn 35 (I certainly hope so!)
You can either be a 35 year old without a college degree, or one with a degree. You could have made the choice to struggle and swim against the tide, or the choice to get your life together and get back in the game!
When you are 35 you will not remember how long it took, what struggles you had, the feelings of failure. You will just be living your life with a sense that when life hands you a lemon you know how to make tasty lemonade.
Good luck!
If you’re in a job/career you enjoy, then GREAT! You can go to school part-time and work full-time. The reason we go to college is because a lot of us aren’t lucky enough to get those kinds of opportunities.
Well, guilt is normal but unproductive. It’s done so no point in wasting energy over it now. You need to think about what you need to do going forward to graduate as planned and with a better GPA. In bigger picture of life, it’s a tiny piece. If you think you made a mistake, learn from it and move on!