He wants to go to Grad school immediately because he misses the CMU like academic rigor, he is used to studying 10-14 hours a day, and thanks to the pandemic and the terrible job situation (He found a job in October 2021) the 9 months gave him ample time to think about what he loves and what he wants to do
He decided to start prepping for GRE, and so decided to take the test cold and was able to do so well, so he didnt have to study for that either 
The prospect of going back to school energizes him a lot
He has enough saved up from undergrad internships and other other jobs he has had along the way in the last 4 years
Thank you and great Q BTW