Well done! Congratulations on your graduation. Now welcome to the adult world, where your money must work for you. I believe we should discuss what it means to own a part of a company and lend money to it. This difference must become the basis for building real wealth.
Let me tell you how stocks work. Owning stocks is the same thing as owning a part of a company. When you purchase Nike or Apple stock, you are purchasing a part of the business. Its success makes you richer; its failures make you poorer.
When you think of bonds, you can imagine them as loans made to corporations or even the government. They will promise to repay you some day with interest.
While the primary role of stocks is to make your wealth grow, the primary role of bonds is to preserve it. Since you are relatively young, you do not need to be concerned much about possible losses. Thus, you can afford to make more risky investments like stocks. Bonds will be a great tool for those situations when you need to hold some money without risks for some time.
Stocks are like a roller coaster; bonds are like a lazy river. They both can become very useful elements of your portfolio. Never put all your eggs in one basket, no matter how good it might seem.