What if I took a break from College?

[Fragaria]

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I'm currently a sophomore in college, and I've been considering taking a brief break from college. I live at home, and being a 18 year-old living with your strict parents isn't exactly the best setting for me. I've mentioned this to my parents, but they think if I took a break I wouldn't go back, and that it would look bad on a future application to vet school.

As much as I love my family, and being with them, my mental health is slowly declining. I go to a school full of people from my high school that aren't interested in conversing with me, and it's a little bit of a downfall that I can't find any people to call my 'friends' here anymore. I'm losing my marbles trying to stay happy when I'm extremely depressed, and having suicidal thoughts.

I'm also not doing my best this semester because of these feelings, and everything. I honestly need some sort of leeway to get myself to that happy place again, but I'm terrified that if I applied to vet school, they'd take one look at me and say no if I tried to take either a semester or a year off.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[felinelvr44]

I'm currently a sophomore in college, and I've been considering taking a brief break from college. I live at home, and being a 18 year-old living with your strict parents isn't exactly the best setting for me. I've mentioned this to my parents, but they think if I took a break I wouldn't go back, and that it would look bad on a future application to vet school.

As much as I love my family, and being with them, my mental health is slowly declining. I go to a school full of people from my high school that aren't interested in conversing with me, and it's a little bit of a downfall that I can't find any people to call my 'friends' here anymore. I'm losing my marbles trying to stay happy when I'm extremely depressed, and having suicidal thoughts.

I'm also not doing my best this semester because of these feelings, and everything. I honestly need some sort of leeway to get myself to that happy place again, but I'm terrified that if I applied to vet school, they'd take one look at me and say no if I tried to take either a semester or a year off.

Any ideas or suggestions?

I think it's perfectly reasonable to take time off of college if that is what would be best for you. Plenty of people don't finish their undergrads in 4 years, take time off, work other jobs, etc. and still get into vet school (*ahem, me*). Have you considered transferring to a different college? Perhaps one where you'd be able to live elsewhere and make a new set of friends? I know living at home is a great way to save money but BTDT, not if it is at the expense of your sanity and mental health.

 

[LittleWiz]

I'm currently a sophomore in college, and I've been considering taking a brief break from college. I live at home, and being a 18 year-old living with your strict parents isn't exactly the best setting for me. I've mentioned this to my parents, but they think if I took a break I wouldn't go back, and that it would look bad on a future application to vet school.

As much as I love my family, and being with them, my mental health is slowly declining. I go to a school full of people from my high school that aren't interested in conversing with me, and it's a little bit of a downfall that I can't find any people to call my 'friends' here anymore. I'm losing my marbles trying to stay happy when I'm extremely depressed, and having suicidal thoughts.

I'm also not doing my best this semester because of these feelings, and everything. I honestly need some sort of leeway to get myself to that happy place again, but I'm terrified that if I applied to vet school, they'd take one look at me and say no if I tried to take either a semester or a year off.

Any ideas or suggestions?

My first suggestion would be to tackle your mental health. Does your school offer counseling services? If so, schedule an appointment with them as a first step.

 

[Fragaria]

I think it's perfectly reasonable to take time off of college if that is what would be best for you. Plenty of people don't finish their undergrads in 4 years, take time off, work other jobs, etc. and still get into vet school (*ahem, me*). Have you considered transferring to a different college? Perhaps one where you'd be able to live elsewhere and make a new set of friends? I know living at home is a great way to save money but BTDT, not if it is at the expense of your sanity and mental health.

I was thinking about this, but I haven't really found a college that I liked yet! I'm still trying to find one, so hopefully if I could find one I probably wouldn't need a break from home @__@

My first suggestion would be to tackle your mental health. Does your school offer counseling services? If so, schedule an appointment with them as a first step.

They don't unfortunately, from what I've asked. :/

 

[Trematode]

I am taking a break because of health issues. I have finally pin-pointed what they thanks to a doctor treatment has me feeling better now. We shall see how I do in school when the time comes. I highly suggest finding someone to talk to or to visit the doctor if you are feeling stressed.

Breaks can be good, especially if you use that time to get more veterinary experience.

 

[skysong13]

So first off I would definitely try to talk to a psychologist- they're great at working out emotions and what's really important for your own sake. And they can be that supporting leg to help you get through school if that's what you need.

Something to consider before taking a break, some merit scholarships may only work if you do continuous semesters. I found this out when I was looking in to doing a semester long internship at my school. If I had stopped going for just 1 semester I would have lost a huge scholarship. If that is a similar case I would look in to that.

Still health comes first, so I'd say first step is to find a counselor to talk to. Suicidal thoughts isn't something to take lightly. Maybe you just need someone to talk to you and to help you get through rough times, maybe it's more than or less than that. But they're professionals and we aren't so even though people on SDN may offer advice, I think the best advice someone can give you is to talk to a professional that is trained to help people through this. I'm an Resident Assistant, and that's one thing I've learned on this job, the typical person doesn't give the best advice when it comes to personal/mental health. Not to say bad things about people on SDN or anything, but if you've had suicidal thoughts, I don't think this is something 99% of people on the pre-veterinary thread can really give you proper advice on. (maybe the exception being if you were a psych major/masters student before going pre-vet)

 

[BlackDog17]

I took a semester off due to a family emergency the fall of my junior year and then went back only part time taking two classes that spring. It really messed with my schedule since I was supposed to be taking my year-long organic chemistry pre-req during that time, so it ended up taking me five and a half years to finish undergrad instead of the usual four. And I still got into vet school.

If you feel (double emphasis on you as this is not a decision you should allow your family, peers, or professors to influence) that you really need a break, then do it. But be prepared to explain it on your vet school applications. I agree with what others have said about using that time to get some experience. That way when it comes time to apply to vet school you can say "I needed some time away from school to work on my mental health, but during that time I did x, y, and z" instead of "I needed a break, so I stayed home and played video games."

Is there any chance you could live on campus next year? I know it's more expensive, but it sounds like you could really benefit from having a little more independence. You would probably also have an easier time meeting new people and making friends if you lived in the dorms instead of commuting. Just a thought.

 

[Fragaria]

I am taking a break because of health issues. I have finally pin-pointed what they thanks to a doctor treatment has me feeling better now. We shall see how I do in school when the time comes. I highly suggest finding someone to talk to or to visit the doctor if you are feeling stressed.

Breaks can be good, especially if you use that time to get more veterinary experience.

I'm currently trying to find a doctor! I hope everything goes well when you go back to school! <3

So first off I would definitely try to talk to a psychologist- they're great at working out emotions and what's really important for your own sake. And they can be that supporting leg to help you get through school if that's what you need.

Something to consider before taking a break, some merit scholarships may only work if you do continuous semesters. I found this out when I was looking in to doing a semester long internship at my school. If I had stopped going for just 1 semester I would have lost a huge scholarship. If that is a similar case I would look in to that.

Still health comes first, so I'd say first step is to find a counselor to talk to. Suicidal thoughts isn't something to take lightly. Maybe you just need someone to talk to you and to help you get through rough times, maybe it's more than or less than that. But they're professionals and we aren't so even though people on SDN may offer advice, I think the best advice someone can give you is to talk to a professional that is trained to help people through this. I'm an Resident Assistant, and that's one thing I've learned on this job, the typical person doesn't give the best advice when it comes to personal/mental health. Not to say bad things about people on SDN or anything, but if you've had suicidal thoughts, I don't think this is something 99% of people on the pre-veterinary thread can really give you proper advice on. (maybe the exception being if you were a psych major/masters student before going pre-vet)

I don't have any scholarships - my parents are paying every bit of my tuition!

I agree, I always wish I had someone to talk to, but my parents don't really understand why I feel these emotions, and it feels bad to say that they're one of the problems. I know! I just wanted a second opinion, I went to a therapist previously a few months ago, but she wasn't really helpful? I told her how i felt and she said that I'd get over all of these emotions once school starts, which isn't the case :/.

I took a semester off due to a family emergency the fall of my junior year and then went back only part time taking two classes that spring. It really messed with my schedule since I was supposed to be taking my year-long organic chemistry pre-req during that time, so it ended up taking me five and a half years to finish undergrad instead of the usual four. And I still got into vet school.

If you feel (double emphasis on you as this is not a decision you should allow your family, peers, or professors to influence) that you really need a break, then do it. But be prepared to explain it on your vet school applications. I agree with what others have said about using that time to get some experience. That way when it comes time to apply to vet school you can say "I needed some time away from school to work on my mental health, but during that time I did x, y, and z" instead of "I needed a break, so I stayed home and played video games."

Is there any chance you could live on campus next year? I know it's more expensive, but it sounds like you could really benefit from having a little more independence. You would probably also have an easier time meeting new people and making friends if you lived in the dorms instead of commuting. Just a thought.

I definitely feel that I need the break, I want to spend this break getting more experience with animals, and focusing on bettering myself!

The school I go to, has a really bad dorm rooms, and there's been a lot of break-ins in some of the dorms, and some uhhh boy/girl incidents where cops had been involved.

 

[equineconstant]

I don't have any scholarships - my parents are paying every bit of my tuition!

I agree, I always wish I had someone to talk to, but my parents don't really understand why I feel these emotions, and it feels bad to say that they're one of the problems. I know! I just wanted a second opinion, I went to a therapist previously a few months ago, but she wasn't really helpful? I told her how i felt and she said that I'd get over all of these emotions once school starts, which isn't the case :/.

If your parents are paying for tuition, that's a leg to stand on in making the argument to them that you should take a break. Why should they pay for school if you're not getting anything out of it? My housemate took a leave of absence last semester for her mental health, and her parents basically forced her to, saying they wouldn't pay for her to miss all her classes. Of course, I expect that my school is much more expensive than yours (for one thing, we have a counseling center and really nice dorms).

Still go to a therapist. Go to a different therapist. You deserve to have your concerns taken seriously.

 

[musher]

I'm in a similar situation to you, although not quite as bad. My parents are also pretty strict. They did "let" me stay with an older relative for the school year, but they still check in on me all the time and I go home on weekends. It sounds to me like taking a break wouldn't be a bad idea, but you should also consider transferring. I personally would love to transfer, just to have more freedom and have the opportunity to meet new people and make some more friends (commuting back and forth every day doesn't leave much of a chance to make new friends). But as others have said, the best recommendation would probably be to go and talk to a professional about your current emotional status.

 

[dvmdreamer]

I definitely feel that I need the break, I want to spend this break getting more experience with animals, and focusing on bettering myself!

The school I go to, has a really bad dorm rooms, and there's been a lot of break-ins in some of the dorms, and some uhhh boy/girl incidents where cops had been involved.

Personally, for me it was a mistake to continuing to push through when I was having a tough time. I wish I had taken time off instead of sacrificing my GPA. It's really hurting me now- and I'm trying to come back from three C's and a few too many B's, nothing extreme.

That being said- when you don't have a schedule and something to force you to get out and be in contact with people, it is really easy to sink further into depression and totally isolate. And then things look very dark and difficult. As everyone else recommended, I would find a psychologist that you can see regularly that you do feel comfortable with- one visit is not going to be helpful. I would have a firm plan in mind- with jobs/shadowing already lined up- before you decide to take time off (if that is what you decide you need).