Salutations readers,
So for the past two weeks I've been having a crisis. No biggie. At this point in my life, I have a mini crisis every few days to be honest. That in itself isn't the problem. The actual dilemma is more pressing than my usual worries, like whether I'm getting too old to be excited about Halloween (Answer: No - 34 days left!).
My real problem: deciding whether I should take a gap year between graduating from Tufts and going to law school.
To give you some context, up until about 3 months ago the very idea of a gap year was completely out of the question. Despite being told over and over that it was a great thing, I'd convinced myself that it wasn't for me. I didn't need a break. I'd been in school for 16 years, and I'd been doing fine! Mostly. I'm not someone who burned out completely by junior year. I actually like school.
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| I'm the Hermione Granger type, you see. |
Besides, weren't there so many downsides to taking a gap year? I'd heard all the stories. What if time in the "real world" made me not want to go back to school? What if I couldn't get recommendation letters from my professors post-graduation? What if I made the wrong choice and my whole life fell apart?! Okay, that last one is mostly my anxious mind talking.
My strong feelings reflect what I've built up in my head. I've wanted to be a lawyer since I was around 10 years old. I've never changed my mind, even when other possibilities appeared. I might have considered something else briefly, but I'd always go right back where I started. Honestly, I thought of a gap year as something meant for people who weren't as sure as I was.
That's where my crisis comes in.
Recently, I've realized that one of the things I need the most right now is a break. College has been an incredible whirlwind, and I've handled it relatively well, but there were obstacles. I've dealt with levels of stress that I know are unhealthy. I've had lengths of time where I didn't take care of myself the way I should have. Even worse, I've suffered more than one breakdown as a result of not knowing when to take a break.
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| For example, this is how I felt 99% of sophomore year. Source |
I can only imagine that law school would take those challenges and multiply them tenfold. At this point, my desire to go straight into law school has weakened considerably. To help my own process and to guide anyone else (whether you're thinking about law school or another grad program) I'll offer you a list of the positive sides to taking a gap year.
- Gap years are great opportunities to do service - various programs in education and other fields exist to let people use their time to help others. Here's a list of gap year opportunities!
- Law schools in particular look for experience. Having held a job in the "real world", especially in the legal field, is very desirable in an application.
- Financially, taking a gap year is a way to work and save up some money that you can use during grad school (the Career Center also offers advice on financing grad school).
- It gives you time to reevaluate and decide if you really want to expend the time, energy and money necessary for grad school.
- Gap years can be a chance for you to take care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally in a (somewhat) less stressful environment than grad school would offer.
These reasons are why I've realized that considering a gap year isn't a sign of failure or indecision, but rather a sign that I've learned to pace myself. I wish I could end this post with a concrete decision, but I think part of a journey like this is taking it one step at a time.
At the end, I think I'll find myself on a path that leads to my dream.
If you're thinking about a gap year, make sure to check out Spotlight on Careers, a wonderful resource full of all the info you might need.
Signing off,
Kelly Vieira
Class of 2015
