Editor’s note: This Future View is about taking time off college due to the disruption caused by Covid-19. Next week we’ll ask, “What’s one thing most of your peers fail to understand about police violence, the Black Lives Matter movement or the riots across America?” Students should click here to submit opinions of fewer than 250 words before June 9. The best responses will be published that night.
I’m Going Back, but You Shouldn’t
I’ve been encouraging everyone who can to take a semester off. First, online learning—which may well return with Covid-19’s second wave—or learning while social distancing is incompatible with several fields of study. This really hits home in music, for which lessons, rehearsals and performances all bring people into close proximity, but the difficulties cross disciplines. How does a hard-sciences education work without access to labs?
Second, enrollment is a transaction. Colleges depend on tuition to offer a quality education, but students pay it expecting one. Paying full price for an inferior product—one on which students build their careers—isn’t a sound business decision. Why not wait a bit and then spend time and money when you can get full value, rather than accept an approximation?
But as I point down one path, I’m taking the other. Between changing my major and picking up a couple of minors, I’ll already spend five years in undergrad. Six would be pushing it. Most people I know are returning as well, constrained by career goals, visas or other circumstances. I’ll be glad to see them. My friends and I can support each other and the school, cushioning its budget losses and reducing the chance that some programs won’t be there for our gap-semester peers when they come back.
—Derek Sharman, University of Colorado Boulder, piano performance
Time Off to Do What?
After leaving campus in March, I felt frustrated and disappointed, struggling to adjust to a new academic routine. I promised myself I wouldn’t return to school until it resumed in its traditional form. But these emotions quieted as my perspective changed: If I am to disrupt my undergraduate journey, leaving so many financial and logistical questions up in the air, I have to justify it.
What would I take time off school to do? Jobs are hard to come by. Firms are turning away interns, not recruiting them out of season. Travel is impractical and probably dangerous. Failing to come up with a good answer, I decided it wasn’t worth it. Besides, I’m an incoming senior, eager to move on, graduate and experience something new. Completing my degree on time seems like a more rational priority than sitting around until I can secure a full year of in-person instruction.
—Anna Feldman, Columbia University, financial economics
Loans Wait for No One
As much as I’d like to take a firm stand against being forced to enroll in online courses, the option doesn’t really exist for me. I am unable to take time off school because my college loan payments kick in the moment I stop attending classes. I don’t have the money for that now, and it is unlikely that I’d be able find a suitable job in this historically bad economy. Most companies are hesitant to hire, and there are more people unemployed than ever to compete over the remaining open spots. I’ll stick with taking classes on Zoom.
—Luke Keller, University of Cincinnati, information systems
Graduate Into This Economy?
Like most seniors, I’ll enter my final year of college in September with one thing on my mind: finding a job after graduation. But with Covid-19 pushing the unemployment rate to around 20%, that task looks more daunting every day. Many economists think it’s unlikely the U.S. economy will have rebounded fully even by the time I don my cap and gown next May.
Taking a semester off would allow me to graduate seven months later, in December 2021, giving the job market an additional seven months to recover before I’d join the workforce. For that reason alone, taking time off college is an enticing option.
—Reed Lawe, Hillsdale College, finance
It Wouldn’t Be the Same
I’m leaning toward taking time off school in the fall.
My university was one of the first in the area to announce that students will be welcomed back to campus next semester. Though many of my friends were relieved and excited, I’m skeptical. There are plenty of obstacles still standing in the way of a safe reopening, and the school has an interest in sounding optimistic to keep enrollment from falling precipitously.
Another semester online would be disappointing. But even if students are allowed back on campus, the feeling wouldn’t be the same. Already, there are rumors that events and club meetings will take place virtually or not at all.
One of the things I love most about college is the togetherness, a feeling I get from attending sports games, watching a cappella performances, going to parties, eating at the dining hall, sitting on the quad, and even going to the gym. This feeling will wilt under the masks, the distance and the constant fear. Better to wait out the virus and return when the experience will feel like college, again.
—Kelly Garrity, Northeastern University, political science
Click here to submit a response to next week’s Future View.
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