GAP year 2

 

 

 

Consider Taking a Co-op Gap Semester, Part 2

In part 1, I touched on the professional benefits of co-ops, but there are also mental health benefits from taking time off from school. My mental health, like that of many others, plummeted horribly when Covid-19 first started. Zoom classes made it even worse in Fall 2020. I constantly fantasized about dropping out of college, and more realistically considered dropping one of my majors and my honors program, even though in normal times I enjoyed both.

Pre-pandemic, I was devoting around 60 hours per week to academics. I suspect many other high-achieving students with hard majors and heavy course loads also are putting in these types of miserable hours and neglecting exercise, socializing, hobbies, and sleep. In contrast, my co-op has set 40-hour work weeks that allow me to do whatever I please with my early mornings, evenings, and weekends, so I don’t feel the constant black cloud of stress looming over me. This change has drastically improved my mental health, given me time to bond with friends, and allowed me to pursue creative interests I didn’t have the time or mental energy for when I had classes.

While online school accelerated my burnout, it had actually already begun after my Fall 2019 semester. Many of the most difficult classes for both of my majors happened in Fall 2019, Spring 2020, and Fall 2020, and some of them were classes that didn’t interest me at all but were required for graduation. I’m hoping that by taking off school for eight months, the longest I’ve been away since I was five years old, I can rekindle my love for learning. I’ve stopped fantasizing about dropping out of college and decided to stick with my double major and honors program after all, which to me is progress. Even without the problem of Zoom classes, I probably would have still felt burned out and disillusioned with my majors and possible career paths.

I think many people are also unwilling to admit they’re just not ready to narrow down what they want to do at age 18, but parents, peer pressure, and sometimes scholarship requirements force them to. My top career choice right now is one I didn’t even know existed until three semesters into college. I don’t necessarily regret my major choices, but I would have definitely made some different decisions had I known earlier so that I wouldn’t have had to teach myself so many skills now. Additionally, I think many students have self-doubt and push themselves away from possible interests, especially STEM, because they think they aren’t intelligent enough. I wonder if some more time to build self-confidence would have changed their paths.

I should include some caveats: There are some financial limitations that can make a gap semester more difficult, including loan payments that may kick in if you aren’t a full-time student, strict scholarship requirements, and that in many fields it is extremely difficult to get a paid internship, especially if you haven’t hit junior year yet. These limitations might prevent some people from taking a gap semester. However, for anyone who can, I strongly urge you to take one or at least consider it.