When it comes to the college life, there are many hurdles one will endure as a typical college student and as a college student myself; I know all about the ups and downs of today's college life. As a college student, I also know a lot of people who decided to take a break from school, and I can deeply understand why they would choose that option, but is it the best choice to do? In this article, we will explain the typical reasons why people make this decision and discuss the positives and the negatives of this choice.
There are many reasons why many would choose to take a semester or more off from college, but the most common reasons as been: (1) being "burned out" to the point where you feel stress about the thought of having to take classes; (2) when they are unsure whether college is for them; (3) when life becomes unexpected and takes all your focus on those situations and creates less focus on your schoolwork; and lastly (4) they may be trying to gain a particular position or status at their job and the only way is to add more work hours. These reasons are very understandable, but what does it mean for you and the future you want to have for yourself when the time come?
It may not always be a good idea to take a break from college. There are pros and cons when it comes to making this decision. According to the following authors: Jordan K. Michels and Jo Calhoun came up with their own personal list of pros and cons on this matter. For Jordan, she came up with five pros. The first pro is the fact that you'll have a chance to save money for tuition when you do decide to go back to school. Jordan also believes that by taking a break, you will have more time to review your financial plan for the future. For her second pro was being able to gain new opportunities. Those experiences can be finding an internship or job that relates to the career path you want to be in the future. Also, you may find that you lost interest in your original career path and decide to make a change. Michels' third pro would be being able to have the time and freedom to participate in non-academic traveling. By participating in non-academic traveling, you can gain a new perspective of the world. This can be a great tool to have when you decide to go back to school or something you can add to your resume. The fourth pro on the list is being able to recover from college life. Taking a break from college can lessen the pain you might have been through while in college. It's always important to take care of your health before anything else. That includes work and school. And lastly, for her fifth pro for taking a break from college would be the fact that a semester off maybe all you need to be able to know whether being in college was for you. You may even decide that a traditional college isn't for you and maybe a trade school is. And just perhaps you may even decide that you should immediately just enter the workforce instead of taking classes for that career path.
Compared to Jordan's list of pros when it comes to taking a break from college, Jo made his list a lot more simple by only creating three pros. For his first pro, he believes that by taking a time away from school, you'll be able to become motivated to succeed. Once you gain an understanding of what major you want to pursue when you decide to retake classes. He also mentions how you might even become more motivated to go back to school when you realize the career you may want won't give you the big bucks without a standard degree. For Jo's second pro was that leaving school for awhile can help you gain career exploration by finding an internship that fits your career and plans. And for the final pro, taking a break from classes can give you a personal refreshment. According to Calhoun, he feels that since most people have been going to school since kindergarten through twelve grade; having a break from the academic world may be well needed. He also mentions how you must stay productive in working on your future while taking this break.
When it comes to pros, there is a list of cons that follows, and Jo had a personal list of cons as well; whereas Jordan was more pro-break than against the idea. Just like his list of pros, his list of cons was simply listed as well. For his first con, he focuses on financial aid. He says not to assume that your student's financial aid package will remain the same when you return to college. Jo then stresses how important it is to consult your school about your financial aid before making a decision about taking time off because most institutions may offer a fixed number of consecutive terms of aid, but not all institutions do. The second con on his list was about student loans. When it comes to student loans, payments are delayed for payment while you are full-time or take a break then all of that changes and the loan companies expect you to be able to start paying them back with interest within the first six months of the changed status. Also, know once you return to school as a full-time student the loans will once again become postpone until the next changed status or graduated with your degree(s). And lastly, Jo titled his last con as "interrupted momentum." What he means by "interrupted momentum" is that many students who have taken breaks from college and came back to finish their degree(s) often reported that it became hard for them to return to school then they thought it would be when they first took the break from classes. Jo also considers this to be the risk that many students and parents will have to consider in advance when deciding whether taking a break is the best decision for you.
Even though Jordan didn't personally make a list of cons, I came up some myself after reviewing her list of pros. When it comes to her first pro which was finances, there can be a negative that comes with it; such as spending just as much money as you would have while being an active college student. In this case, you should stay in school and finish school because every year college prices go up. For Jordan's second pro, she believes that by taking a break from classes then you'll be able to find new opportunities. This can become a con when you decide to stay at home and don't do anything related to the degree or the career path you were considering while in college. If you do desire to take a break from college make sure it is a productive break where you are focusing on your career and where you can see yourself becoming in the future. Another pro that Jordan mentioned was non-academic traveling. The con that comes with non-academic traveling is that you can get so caught up with traveling that you don't create a clear decision on when you plan to go back to school or make any real time to focus on your career path. And for the last two pros that can become cons that Jo had also mentioned were "recovery" and "the return rate". Having the time to recovery from any meltdowns and stress that college may have caused you could become a con by making you so comfortable about not having to worry about going to classes that you later decide not to go back without having a backup plan. And just like Jo, I agreed that the return rate for most people who choose to take a break from school later decide to finish their degree(s) no sooner than five to ten years later.
When I was doing research on this topic, there were a lot of bloggers who spoke about this subject spoke as though they were either pro- taking a break or against it. For the most part, the ones I found were for it, but there was one article that mentioned something that neither Jordan nor Jo said in their reports, and that was the importance of knowing yourself. Marie Hartwell-Walker wrote the article. After mentioning how important it is to know yourself, Marie then states how some people can be an active member in college while participating in other activities such as campus groups and having a dating life; while others may only be able to do one thing at a time. She also mentions how "just because you may be the type of person who may have to do one thing at a time it does not make you a failure because you are not."
In this article, we were able to view the common reasons why a lot of college students decide to take a break from college. Not only did we review these reasons, but we also examined the list of pros and cons that come with making this type of decisions. The list of pros and cons was a collectible creation by the following bloggers: Jordan, Jo, and myself. Even though there were a good amount of pros and cons made, the automatic decision factor would be having an in-depth understanding about yourself and having the insight to know whether you can create a productive atmosphere for yourself while not being an active student in college. With all these factors upon you now, do you still feel as though it is a good idea for you to take a break while in college?
Sources
The reality of taking a semester off
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/reality-semester
When to take time out from college
https://psychcentral.com/lib/when-to-take-time-out-from-college/
Pros and cons of taking time off from college
https://www.universityparent.com/topics/academics/pros-and-cons-of-taking-time-off-from-college/
