I came to my school excited to start my major and get out into the world. Over the first semester I struggled to keep up academically based off of homesickness and a growing lack of interest. When I was home for winter break I found out that if I didn’t do better this semester I may lose my scholarship. I came back to school determined to fix and and I honestly tried, but at this point my scholarship is hanging on by a thread and I am not sure I will manage to keep it.
If I lose my scholarship I know my family wont be able to send me to the school I am currently at because it is way too expensive, but even so I am not completely confident I want to come back to school next semester. I have made hardly any friends and I feel completely burnt out on everything. On top of this, even though I love my major it requires grad school, which I doubt I will get into if my grades continue the way they have this last year.
I kind of want to take a next year off, but I’m not sure how my parents will react to this since they both strongly want me to finish out college. Am I just being crazy about this and should I stick it out, or should I maybe follow my heart to figure things out before continuing down a miserable road?
This is a tough question to answer. If you take a year off, you typically lose your scholarship no matter what. You can always talk to the Dean and he/she might be able to help you develop a plan. The Dean is there to help you.
There’s also the worry that if you leave, you might never come back because of the convenience. How do you plan to use the time off? Are you the type of person to actually miss school?
A friend of mine tried this and ended up losing all his scholarships. He now cannot return to the program indefinitely due to additional financial hardships that came up. The sad thing was, he even had a documented extenuating circumstance that would interfere with his academic work, but the university was still unwilling to give back the financial aid awards.
I’m not saying this will certainly happen to you, but I would consider other options first before deciding to take a hiatus. It’s perfectly understandable to want to take a break if you’re burnt out, depressed, and not enjoying yourself. However, taking a break could potentially complicate things further for you, depending on your college. Talk to your advisor or academic counselor and maybe they can help figure out what your problems are and what the best options will be for you. I’m sorry you’re going through this and I wish you the best of luck.
Just a thought, but stay enrolled and do everything to make sure you can return in the Fall. Summer will cure a lot of those ailments.
Really sorry, I had a horrid time my first semester and I thought I was ready to quit. I switched my major, made a huge difference in the way I looked at things. I agree with what someone said that Summer will make things a lot better and heal your burnout. But I would say don’t take time off and if you do only take a semester off, everyone that I’ve talked to that took a gap year said they regretted it. Not trying to tell you no, just saying that getting back into things may be tough if you take some time off.
Another thing is to get evalauated to see if you are suffering from depression…if so perhaps a medical leave of absence is in order…also talk to your adviser/dean of students to see what options there are.
Here on CC we have heard so many stories about how people made decisions about what to do without talking to the people at the college to make sure it will fit with the rules of the college. Also, have you been using the writing center, tutors, going to professors office hours? All the posters who are trying to appeal academic suspension swear they will do those things next time. Do them this time.
Don’t take a year off! There’s always a chance you can do better the next year. Don’t give up hope.
Personally I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t mind taking a year off to unwind, but I know that it isn’t in my best interests to do so. Keep in mind that a year off turns into 10-15 years off for a lot of people. Sometimes life happens and you get a job and decide to take another year off to save some more money…then you meet someone and get into a relationship and someone ends up pregnant…and so on.
There are a lot of instances where taking a year off does make sense. There are other options though. You mentioned homesickness as a big part of your issue, and you mentioned not being able to keep up academically. Going to a local community college for a year might be worth considering. You’re likely to get a lot more support and personal attention at a community college, and you’ll be closer to home, which would eliminate the homesickness element. A lot of people take this route and end up transferring back to a university after a year at a CC and ultimately end up doing much better. This may not turn out to be the best option in your case, but I would strongly suggest considering it.
There is always the option of just plowing forward. Having the summer to unwind might be just what you need to recharge your batteries.