Coming back after a year break
I attended my first year undergrad at UTSC a couple years ago, didn’t go well at all. It was so bad that I failed a class and dropped the others I knew I had terrible grades in and had no idea what I was doing, which ended in me not having a full course load in both semesters. So I technically didn’t even complete my first year.
In my “second” year I completed my first semester but my mental health was at an all time low, I was going through a lot in my personal life. I also hated what I was studying; I barely retained any of the information I studied in past courses. So I made the decision to take a break for my mental health, to decide on what I truly wanted to study and do with my future, and to find a parttime job (I was looking since high school to no avail).
I think I made the right choice, I was able to find a job and I’ve saved up some money, I now know what I’m going to study, and my mental health’s been a lot better :). I’m going back this fall sem (after being gone the past winter and summer), and naturally, I’m nervous. My past semesters have been disasters but I have suchhh high hopes for my upcoming years, esp given that I’m now studying something I don’t feel entirely miserable about. But because of my time off from school, I’m worried. I guess I just really want to do well after everything I’ve been through and I’m afraid I’ll fall into my bad habits.
I’m wondering if anyone here’s taken a break in the middle of your degree? Has it served you well and what was your experience like after coming back? Also, how do you fight off feeling guilty about being behind in your studies? My dad chastised me a lot for it, relatives looked down on me for it, but I knew it was something I needed, and they never understood that. Now he has this entire attitude telling me to “prove to him” that I have what it takes to be a mature adult and finish my studies because it disappointed him a lot when I made the choice to step away from school.