By Katie Goss ‘23
Staff Writer
As March marked the anniversary of the College’s campus closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it served as a further reminder that many students have been learning remotely for a full year. Student enrollment decreased during the 2020-2021 academic year, indicating that a large number of Mount Holyoke students have opted to take time away from their studies, either for just one semester or the full year. Due to remote classes, the module system and the pandemic itself, many students felt that this year would be the perfect time to take a break from school to focus on themselves and their personal goals.
Sara Robillard ’23 decided to take the spring semester off after experiencing the new module system and remote classes in the fall. She felt stressed throughout the semester and decided it would be detrimental to her mental health to continue in the spring.
“I took the semester off because after doing the module system, it really took a toll on my mental health. I had not felt like that in a long time, and I knew being in school in this way, at home [and] in this setting, is just not how I anticipated college,” Robillard said. “Dealing with that while also having the stress of school and the feeling where you can’t catch up, like if you fall behind you’re really just constantly playing a game of catch up.”
Olivia Griesmer ’23 also decided to take the spring off after going through the fall semester because of the pressures of remote learning and the situation caused by the pandemic overall.
“I would definitely say the first semester with the module system really influenced me to take the spring semester off. [In the] fall semester, I think I had an okay first module, and then the second module, I just got to a breaking point where I was having panic attacks before every Zoom meeting. … It would get to a point where I couldn’t go to class and I would be emailing my professors,” Griesmer said. “My panic attacks got so bad that I had to medically withdraw from my courses, and I realized I wasn’t in a mentally healthy place to do [the] spring semester,” they said. “I think … the pandemic also brought on a lot of my anxieties. So I think staying safe and keeping my anxiety down is a big goal for me.”
Griesmer mentioned that the module system did not support their learning style and felt that it would be better to wait until the College returned safely to in-person learning.
“It takes me a long time to process information, and in seven weeks, they throw a lot at you very quickly, and it just wasn’t working for me,” Griesmer said. “I had the opportunity and the support from my family to take the semester off, so I just took the opportunity until an in-person experience, where I know I can learn better, would be given safely.”
Robillard mentioned that professors are also facing challenges due to the module system. She hopes that once the College returns to the semester format, as well as in-person classes, this situation will change and professors will be able to teach their courses with the ease they did before.
Both Robillard and Griesmer decided to work on bettering themselves mentally and academically during their semesters off.
Griesmer has an internship with the company Bakpax, an online education company, and also nannies for a family in their free time. At the same time, they are focusing on bettering their mental health and preparing for the fall 2021 semester.
“[My main goal is] to work on my mental health so when we are back to in-person classes and everyone’s on campus safely, I will be in a place to learn and successfully do college,” Griesmer said. “So I think staying safe [during the pandemic] and keeping my anxiety down is a big goal for me.”
Robillard worked at a sandwich shop, PrimoHoagies, throughout the last semester and at the beginning of this year. She recently started a new job at a coffee shop called the Pie Lady Cafe. Robillard also has an internship with MASSPIRG, a grassroots organization that has a presence on multiple campuses across the country, and works on their campaigns.
“Taking this time off, I decided I wanted to work more and save up some money, and also I wanted to get an internship to help my resume and put me in a better spot for when I did go back to school. Because I’ve never gotten one before and never really had that experience on my resume, I wanted to do something more productive and useful with my time. I didn’t want to put myself in a position where I knew that I was going to be unhappy,” Robillard said. Additionally, she said she wanted to use this time to find her “identity” as a person outside of the classroom.
“I feel like this [time] has also been helpful for me to sort of find my identity, like outside of being a student. I have been in school all of my life, … and you don’t realize how it just becomes your life and that’s all you think about,” she said. “Being a student is a full-time job, and I sort of wanted a break from that and to step back. I felt like I would also be able to fall back in love with doing school and doing work again and trying to learn and get an education … because the last semester before I took off was really hard.”
Although she’s back at Mount Holyoke this semester, Simran Kaur ’22 took the fall semester off and decided to participate in World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms with her friend. WWOOF is an organization in which people can choose what farms they want to work on for a period of time and volunteer there in exchange for food and a place to stay while traveling in the area.
Kaur originally planned on studying abroad in Vienna for the fall semester, but those plans were canceled due to the ongoing pandemic. After her friend mentioned WWOOF to her in the summer, they both decided to take the fall semester off and travel across the country to participate.
“WWOOF farms are all consolidated on a database. We chose farms based on if we got ‘good vibes’ from their descriptions [and] photos on their pages, and calling [video or audio] with the hosts to talk about what working there would look like as well as [get] a feel for the host,” Kaur said.
She and her friend worked on three farms over the period of about four months, one in South Carolina for five weeks, one in Arizona for four weeks and one in New Mexico for 10 days. Kaur said they chose to work on these farms to see the different farming conditions in various climates. Before starting work, they were both tested for COVID-19. Additionally, to limit their contact with others, they drove to each farm to keep their exposure to a minimum.
Kaur and her friend also spent time exploring hiking trails and outdoor places nearby. They both bought National Park Access Passes at the beginning of the fall so they could go to as many parks as possible during their journey. Although they originally planned to continue their travels until after New Year’s, they decided to return home before the holidays, as a spike in COVID-19 was expected in the U.S. at the time.
Kaur said she tried to see the positive in the pandemic and realized she probably would not have had this experience if COVID-19 did not alter her plans to study abroad in Vienna.
“A cross-country road trip and farming? I’m fairly certain it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the pandemic,” she said.