Bryn Mawr Students Reflect on Their Gap Years

By Holden Davitian, Staff Editor

This past year has rerouted or derailed almost everyone’s lives and plans. What used to be referred to as the “five-year-plan,” a list of boxes to tick after high school or college, has turned into more of a “five-day-plan.” Thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that hit in March 2020, students all around the globe have had to readjust to academic and social changes, redefining what it means to learn and socialize.

There are tons of students taking time off from school right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whether it’s before going to college, during college or even before graduate school.

Reasons for taking time away from school

When students were sent home last March and had to finish the semester virtually, many began to consider the idea of a gap semester or year if virtual-learning were to continue into the 2020–21 academic year. Sophie Khanna, a Bryn Mawr junior, explains that she first considered taking time off from Bryn Mawr once the college announced that it was going to be online again in the fall. Khanna states that it was “really hard to focus online and there are so many downsides to virtual learning,” and even the prospect of the isolation on a college campus during a pandemic contributed to her decision. “I was just thinking about being in a dorm room all alone on a computer, all the time.”

Incoming Bryn Mawr junior Isabelle Rule-Becker took the whole 2020–21 school year off and echoed Khanna’s statements, explaining that she also first considered a gap year last March when all classes became virtual. As the summer didn’t provide much hope or change in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the US, Rule-Becker “realized that things were not going to be normal.” She didn’t like the prospect of more virtual learning and “the idea of only being able to be unmasked when you’re in your room by yourself.”

The academic and social repercussions of the pandemic have worried students, but the crux of the pandemic—the threat the COVID-19 virus poses on people’s health—was another major factor students considered when thinking about taking time off from college. Rising Bryn Mawr junior Annarose King outlined her initial fear of the “complications” rising COVID-19 cases on campus would present. “I was worried that Spring 2021 courses that planned on being hybrid would go online again and that we would even be sent home due to rising cases,” she explains. However, Bryn Mawr’s success in keeping COVID-19 cases and transmission low during the Fall 2020 semester did reassure King and her parents, giving them hope that living on campus “was going to be as safe as it possibly could be.” She continued to remain optimistic about the spring semester, finding the positive aspects of her choice to return to Bryn Mawr, stating, “even if all classes went online, I could still be on campus and would enjoy being there.”

Sophomore Frances Millar was actually on campus during the Fall 2020 semester before deciding to take a gap semester in the spring. Millar describes the fall semester on campus as “far from ideal,” but the turning point for her was the struggle of the “demands of studying and living communally” during the pandemic as well as her grandfather’s diagnosis of COVID-19 and his subsequent rapid decline in health while she was away at school. Millar explains that she briefly considered just taking spring semester courses remotely, but that “grieving from afar is horrible on its own, but it also made me more aware of how ridiculous it was to expect myself to function as a student this year,” ultimately deciding that it would be best to not put herself through the same challenges that came with living and studying on campus during the fall semester.

Khanna, Rule-Becker, Millar and King all had in-person college experiences under their belt before the pandemic hit, allowing them to compare what Bryn Mawr was like before the pandemic and during the pandemic. However, incoming Bryn Mawr first-years had to decide whether they wanted to start their college career under the restrictions posed by the pandemic.

Incoming Bryn Mawr first-year Anya, who prefers to keep her last name private, took a gap year for the 2020–21 session after having considered taking one since her junior year of high school. Anya initially considered taking a gap year because “it would be really beneficial to take a break from school and travel since there [are] all of these fun programs,” explained Anya. When March 2020 rolled around and high school seniors started to make commitments to colleges, Anya had never actually set foot on Bryn Mawr’s campus nor in the city of Philadelphia. Anya describes how she chose Bryn Mawr in large part due to “pandemic related reasons,” such as the college’s close proximity to a large city yet it has a confined campus. Anya reconsidered the idea of taking a gap year when she and her parents, who work in the healthcare field, were not “jazzed” about the idea of Anya starting college during a pandemic.

Unlike Anya, incoming Bryn Mawr first-year Rosie Scott-Benson had never considered taking a gap year until after she had already committed to being a part of Bryn Mawr’s class of 2024. After committing and submitting her deposit to Bryn Mawr, Scott-Benson received a form from the college asking her if she was taking a gap year. “I had never even thought about taking a gap semester or gap year before but once I saw that Bryn Mawr asked, all of a sudden I was like ‘Oh my gosh, I can do that. I can take a year off,’” describes Scott-Benson. She says that her choice of taking a gap year was the right thing to do at the time as she found the pandemic and its repercussions very difficult to adjust to, and didn’t want to start her freshman year of college how she’d finished high school: online. Like the majority of students, Scott-Benson “didn’t know what Bryn Mawr was going to look like in the fall and really wanted to hold out as long as possible for some in-person learning freshman year.”

How students spent their time off

Deciding to take time off from school is only one part of the story; choosing how to spend the year or the semester is the next obstacle students face. Some students were able to simply extend summer internships and commitments, while others’ plans were heavily impacted by the pandemic’s restrictions.

Khanna and Rule-Becker got the chance to extend their summer internships into the fall, continuing their involvement in the 2020 US election. Khanna continued her work in Connecticut Congressman Jim Himes’ office while Rule-Becker worked with the Democratic grassroots organization Swing Left Greater Boston as a co-coordinator for the Pennsylvania phone-banking team. Millar also returned to her summer internship and “curated a show of textiles for Women’s History Month based on [her] previous archival research,” describes Millar. “I’ve also been doing part-time respite care for an autistic neighbor.”

After a tumultuous yet rewarding fall semester working with the 2020 election, Khanna decided to return to Bryn Mawr and take her classes remotely, explaining that it was more of an issue of opportunities than an eagerness to return back to school. “I couldn’t take the spring semester off because I just didn’t want to stay working at the same place and it was only part time so I thought I was a little bit too bored at home.” Unlike Khanna, Rule-Becker decided to take the rest of the 2020–21 school year off. She has been working remotely with a DC-based women’s leadership organization called The Impact Center, where she works on “newsletters, social media and other miscellaneous things the organization needs help with.”

Scott-Benson has been working as a nanny for two kindergarteners since last August. She explains that she has not had the opportunity to take any online courses, but would have looked into courses at her community college if she had more time to dedicate to them.

Anya’s initial expectations for a gap year became either impossible due to the lack of international travel caused by the pandemic or were just “not worth the resources and the time and effort,” as with online courses through Oxford University that would have begun as early as 4am in Anya’s timezone. Despite these setbacks, Anya received a poetry fellowship through a program based in Los Angeles, an opportunity Anya says she would not have been able to pursue in-person as the organization normally only accepts LA residents. Additionally, Anya is currently taking a history course through the Harvard Extension School which has settled her nerves regarding taking time off from academics. “I had never, until this point in my life, ever taken time off from school, even in the summers,” she joked “I was like ‘I need to use my brain or my brain will die.’”

Academic and social support

The majority of students interviewed received the support of their family and friends who helped them weigh the pros and cons of each possible situation during the decision-making process. Anya has a close friend who went to Bryn Mawr who she was able to talk with during her college application process, while Scott-Benson consulted her mom every step of the way.

But although friends and family can provide ample support to students, it is also the responsibility of schools to extend their support and resources to guide students during these uncertain times.

Anya and Scott-Benson describe their deferrals from Bryn Mawr as having been pretty simple. After notifying the college of their decision to take a gap year, they were immediately transferred to the Class of 2025 and thus have not received much information from the college. Anya makes note that there was a “form on the Bryn Mawr Admissions Office portal which asked how students’ gap years were going, but there wasn’t much follow up after that.” Anya further explains that she is in Bryn Mawr “2020 Gap Year” and “Class of 2025” group chats, but other than that, she “doesn’t currently have any established connections to the college.” Scott-Benson agrees with Anya explaining that, other than the Admissions Office who reached out a few times to check in regarding scholarships, she hasn’t “had much communication or connection with the college.”

Students like Khanna and Rule-Becker—who had already established relationships with Bryn Mawr faculty and students—had to make it a priority to stay up-to-date with the happenings on Bryn Mawr’s campus.

Khanna simply states that she “had no support from [her] Dean” and was always the one initiating conversations with the college. Khanna relied on her friends and social media to remain engaged with the Bryn Mawr community and made it a priority to regularly FaceTime her friends on-campus. Khanna even had her friends forward her emails from the college, as she wasn’t receiving any from the school.

Khanna also describes her experience as an unenrolled student and supporter of the Bryn Mawr and Haverford strikes. When talking to students from the Bi-Co during the strikes, Khanna says that she had no understanding of what was going on in terms of the strikes and felt completely out of the loop. “I definitely supported the message [of the strikes] and I just wish I could have done more. I’m sad I missed it. [Missing] the strikes is something I regret from taking the term off,” states Khanna. However, Khanna remains optimistic that she will be able to be more involved with social-justice movements on campus thanks to the Bryn Mawr Self-Government Association and the college’s Black Student Liberatory Coalition.

Rule-Becker recounts a similar experience to Khanna, especially in regards to the lack of support from the college. Rule-Becker states that she “is sure [she] could have had more support if [she] needed it” but didn’t necessarily go out of her way to stay involved with the Bryn Mawr administration.

Although she stepped down as the leader, Rule-Becker has still been an active participant of Sunrise, the club she co-founded in 2019, and has seen the club as a good way to maintain a connection with the college. Through Sunrise’s initiatives and the strikes’ virtual town halls and teach-ins, Rule-Becker was able to stay engaged with the Bryn Mawr and Haverford strikes, although admitting that “it’s a really different experience when you’re on campus and surrounded by the strike and students.”

Reflecting on the past year

As the 2020–21 school has come to a close and the Bi-Co has been able to offer vaccinations to the student body and staff and has released a statement regarding the Fall 2021 semester, students have begun to reflect on their decision of taking time off this past year. Overall, students describe being very happy with their decision to take time off from school, not only expressing their gratitude for the work opportunities they were given, but they also recognize the benefits of having taken their mental health and education into their own hands.

Although Anya describes this past year as having been lonely at times, she states that she “definitely made the right call in terms of [her] overall mental health and [her] performance at school,” given her love for academics and excelling in her classes. Anya recounts how she has evolved during her time away from school, saying that before taking time off, she, “definitely did not have a great sense of who [she] was outside of school” and through “some trial and error and a lot of trying to figure out what is important to [her],” she is excited for what’s to come and to start the next phase of her life at Bryn Mawr.

Instead of going straight to college after high school, Anya is “really grateful to be going into freshman year with a better understanding of what [her] priorities are outside of just trying to perform and be the best student that [she] can be.” Anya even wishes that a lot of people she personally knows would have tried taking a gap year, as the “experience of being without a structure, like a school, that we’ve been following for the entirety of our existence is a really powerful experience.”

Rule-Becker explains that she has “no regrets” and is “definitely happy with [her] decisions especially since [she] has been able to learn new things, have cool experiences and meet new people.” Specifically, she found doing work for the 2020 election “a really rewarding once-in-a-lifetime experience.” Millar agrees, stating that she has “absolutely no regrets” about her decision and is very grateful to have been able to take time off from school. Millar further explains that she wishes she was more kind to herself when making her decision, describing how taking time off from school “means nothing about how [students] are as academics,” and it is instead a “matter of priority and taking care of yourself while the world feels like it’s falling apart.”

It is clear that taking time off from school comes with its sacrifices, such as the risk of becoming more disconnected from the Bryn Mawr community in addition to the general isolation the pandemic has created.

Khanna describes how, over the past year, she started to consider herself an adult due to feeling “super disconnected from Bryn Mawr,” as she wasn’t on campus and was not talking to any professors during her time off. Khanna further describes the “strange adjustment” of returning to Bryn Mawr courses this past spring semester. “As I started interacting with older people who had actually graduated college and were in the ‘real world,’ I felt more effective and impactful as a person,” she says, “especially because I was working with constituents and helping them get their stimulus.”

Like Khanna, Scott-Benson points out that she has “definitely lost touch with friends during this year,” in part due to spending “all day everyday with kindergarteners.” She describes a sense of impatience to get back to being around people her age and to be a student again, stating that she is “really, really ready to go to college and is more than ready to make new friends and to be in class in-person.” Many students at Bryn Mawr chose the college in part due to its abundance of traditions, something Millar said is very difficult to miss out on while not on campus but understands that many other students are in the same situation.

Students who have taken either part of or the whole 2020–21 school year off understand and have acknowledged their privilege in having the choice to take time off from school and live at home. Both Khanna and Rule-Becker take time to express their gratitude for their family in supporting them this past year. “I was fortunate enough to live at home and have parents who feed me and house me,” says Khanna. Rule-Becker explains how she was able to “do the best [she] could this past year” thanks to her family that has helped her be able to undertake unpaid internships and live at home. Although she misses Bryn Mawr and her friends, she continues to stay positive, recognizing that this time is just a “temporary little pause” and that she will be able to see her friends soon. In the meantime, Rule-Becker is very grateful for the extra time she has been able to spend with her family—time that she wouldn’t have had if there wasn’t a pandemic.

Choosing how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the way students learn and socialize has proven to be a very personal decision. Like communities around the world who have had to adjust to the “new normal” the pandemic has created, Bryn Mawr students have taken their lives in their own hands as much as they can. By taking time off from school this past year, many students have advocated for themselves, their academic success and their mental and emotional health.

Image credit: The Daily Pennsylvanian