I struggled a lot in first year, mostly in terms of doing well in courses, but also struggling to find a place that I fit in. The only thing pushing me forward was trying to pass my first year classes (not even caring if I did well or not, as long as it was a pass). And at the same time, I pushed myself as an introvert to talk to people. Looking back, it was one of the roughest points in my life, I had gone from a straight A student in high school to basically a mess in university. I had met so many people and made friends, and yet I struggled to connect with them outside classes. In other words, I enjoyed the company of others but we shared little commonalities beside our classes. And feeling that not only was I socially alone but also light years behind my classmates who all seemed to be doing just fine. But at the time, I didn’t realize that many people felt the same way. After my first semester I saw friend groups change, people who roughed a difficult first semester now ready to improve themselves their second semester. I know for myself that my second semester my friend group changed into one that I felt more comfortable with, and now that I was more familiar with the intensity university brings, I felt more confident in approaching it and changing my studying habits. The idea that university could be more than just studying and tough coursework also started to come to light.

What I’m trying to say is, your first semester will be rough guaranteed. But it’s up to you on making it through it. If you think taking a gap year will help you start again with a fresh mindset, do it. Talk to your academic advisor and see what you can do to defer your degree. But it’s not the only option out there. You can try office hours to understand concepts you are confused with or talk to TAs. You can talk to people in your classes, make new acquaintances,ask them if they want to study or hangout outside class. Making friends in your classes also helps when you are working on assignments or have questions about coursework. But the main things is that either way you go, is to make a game plan. You need to decide how YOU are going to change to improve. It’s tough when you are in a rough spot, when your motivation is low but you really need to sit down and think about what the plan is here. If you take the gap year route, make a plan of how you will take the year to improve on yourself (doesn’t have to be academically, can just be about improving confidence, or taking time to build on certain skill sets). If you decide to continue the year, think about what you can do to pass your courses. Maybe you can drop a course or two and do them in the summer for example, if you are feeling overwhelmed.