Amanda Reid | The penny drops (out)

Reid about it! | Taking "taking a break" seriously

By Amanda Reid 04/05/16 11:12pm

In a written piece published on The Tab, George Beall details his experience of taking a leave of absence from Penn to pursue his business career. Similarly, in a Daily Pennsylvanian article called A Tale of Two Startups, the idea of “leaving Penn to outsmart Apple” was highlighted as being a key narrative in the success stories of the many dropouts here at Penn.

The narrative of the Ivy League overachiever-dropout who ends up getting rich before getting a diploma is a wet dream we’ve all had. It’s the fantasy of being an intellect that can stick it to the system without jeopardizing the benefits he or she reaps from it.

Often this narrative fails to mention taking a break from having a trajectory — career-related or otherwise — at all. Seldom does the published dropout narrative include leaving for noncareer-related reasons. We rarely hear narratives that congratulate the individual on taking a break for the sake of taking a break.

Taking a break from school is still shadowed by negative stigma. A leave of absence feels, at times, like the last option. Sometimes I’m amazed at how much we’re willing to put ourselves through before we get to give ourselves a break.

I’ve always told myself that I wouldn’t need to take a leave of absence, because the best thing to do was to grin and bear it. Yet, as time goes on, with every new article that engages with the problem of Penn’s mental health, I realize how I’ve caught myself in a logical fallacy: I conveniently ignore my own needs when it conflicts with the long-held tradition of “pushing through.”

College sophomore Sam Myers, who is studying history and English, is currently on a leave of absence after an epiphany came through to her about her mental health. “Around the end of February, I had a very jarring moment of clarity where I realized just how mentally and emotionally exhausted I was from it all, and that’s when I decided that I needed to take some time away from school.”

In honest and humble words, she outlined the reasons and need for a break. “I couldn’t continue to fight what was pressing down on me any longer — there was really no sense in it.”

Knowing what the right decision for ourselves is takes time, but sometimes it just takes a gut reaction to tell us what we need. “Once I made the decision, I felt an immediate sense of relief. It was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.”

By contrast, in Europe and Australia, taking breaks from higher education is common.

College senior Flora Bahri, an exchange student from France, expressed that taking a break is perhaps less of an issue in France than here. “You can start university, then if you don’t like it, you can stop and maybe start again. It’s less of a big deal.”

In Europe and Australia, students will typically take gap years in the middle or beginning of their university careers. If this tells us anything, it should tell us that our way isn’t the only way. Is it just another facet of American — or Penn — culture that encourages the idea of endurance?

For Sam, the mindset of “pushing through” prevented her from leaving earlier. “The idea [of taking a break] was brought up to me a number of times in the fall when I was really struggling, but I insisted on pushing through everything because that’s all I’ve ever known to do.”

Why are we so eager to rush through our youth, forsaking mental health or personal exploration? Breaks are healthy. Far from being a last ditch option, they should be a normalized part of the college experience.

Perhaps if we normalize leaves of absence, we won’t force ourselves to endure needless stress. Normalizing breaks will show us the diversity of options we actually have as students. It restores control of our education back to our hands. We’re all aware of the epidemic that is the work ethic of constant hyper-drive mode. It’s probably hubristic to think our bodies and minds don’t need rest; even a well–oiled Adonis like Thomas the Tank Engine needs to slow down.

We should recognize that leaving school doesn’t need to be in the name of progress. It could just be a right choice for the moment. There are always valid reasons for dropping out, for taking a break from the current track. As a culture obsessed with staying in the right lane and moving steadily ahead, we can learn a thing or two from taking an exit lane. In Sam’s words: “There was nothing wrong with taking a step back and slowing down for a bit. I’m still moving forward.”

Amanda Reid is a College sophomore from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, studying cinema studies & English. Her email address is amreid@sas.upenn.edu. “Reid About It!” usually appears every other Tuesday.

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