<prompt> Human: Im a relatively-recent college graduate, 25 years of age, currently holding a Bachelors of Engineering. Without going too much into specific, I will be obtaining a lump sum of about 8,000 USD by the beginning of December of this year, and all I know is that I want to find a way to make it grow. I know its not a whole lot, but Im hoping that with proper managementinvesting I can make something off of it.I currently have no college debt grant, and owe about 300 in credit but have never missed any payments. My credit is good. I hope to be enrolled in graduate school by Fall 2019 in a Masters program under a fellowship, and I expect zero or few relative costs. Once I get the lump sum, I plan on getting lasik eye surgery dead-set on this; Ive heard so many good things about it on both eyes, assuming I qualify. I also need to buy a second-hand car, Im thinking 4,000 max, lower if possible. I dont have a job as of now, but Im planning to go back to my old job, which averaged about 2800 a month. I do not have health insurance.x200B;Once again, I know NOTHING about investing and have been speaking with several good friends. My goal is simply to make this money grow, just not sure how. IRA? 401K? Stocks? Oh, and I live along the Mexico-US border, if it matters. Sorry if my English is choppy.  <response>: Grad school fellowships dont allow you to roll in the dough, its just barely enough to get by while in grad school. Having money in savings for emergencies or just things that come up are important.If you need a car i.e. you need it for work, school, or activities of daily living then thatd be reasonable to buy in cash and save the rest in a high yield savings account.I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you cant make this money grow easily beyond what youd get in a HYSA. Your income is not steady and if youre in a state of flux. I dont think you have the money for LASIK right now. 