Imogen Rawlings-Green
@irawlingcourant
As with most things during the COVID-19 crisis, the future is uncertain for new high school graduates. Previous plans of attending senior prom, heading off to decorate your dorm, and starting college sports have most certainly been flipped upside down.
Some students are getting the “college experience” online from their living room couch at home. Others are able to attend college in-person with the hybrid format, which blends online and in-person classes. While some students have taken a leap of faith, wiped the slate for 2020 clean, and opted to take a gap year.
Georgia Stewart: Mind the Gap
Before recently graduated student Georgia Stewart headed off to Tufts University, the pandemic hit, and her whole perception of becoming a college freshman changed. She decided that to make the most of her four years of college, a gap in schooling would be the best option for her.
“My parents and I talked about taking a gap year because you want to make sure that you get a solid four years of college,” Georgia said. “One of my friends actually decided to take a gap year first, so then I considered it to be a plausible option as well.”
While many students take a gap year to visit family, volunteer, or even take a trip to Europe, this year stamps a “do not enter” sign on all of those things. “It’s disappointing because I was going to go to take a fun trip to Europe with my grandmother and my mom, but it got canceled,” Georgia said.“Maybe we could go next summer, but I am not keeping my hopes up.”
Even though travel is out of the question in her gap year, Georgia has been working on the Biden Connecticut campaign by setting up teams of volunteers across Connecticut who are willing to phone bank across the country “Being able to set those teams up and see the amount of people that actually want to make the calls and volunteer has been awesome,” Georgia said.
In addition to working on the Biden campaign, Georgia is continuing her career studies in STEM biology relating to the brain with a gap year course Tufts offers. “This is the first time they are offering this course, and they had three months to put it together over the summer,” Georgia said. “The program offers students an unpaid volunteer internship with a company and offers classes through Tisch School of Public Service.” Georgia hopes to be matched with a public health company this fall.
While many students like Georgia are missing out on traveling with family or eating meals with friends on campus, she is still able to see local friends near her home. “It’s been a little bit tricky because we have to convince the adults to let us go,” Georgia said. “We don’t want to put our parents at risk.”
While her fresh new college experience is being put on pause, she has taken up a few new hobbies among her other work. She has taken up baking bread and apple pies, becoming the official highway driver of her household, and learning how to dock a boat.
