I started at Harvard in fall 2018. Amidst all the uncertainties of moving to a new place where I knew no one, I took comfort in knowing that the next four years of my life were relatively predetermined.

I may not have known what I wanted to study or what activities I wanted to pursue, but at least I was virtually certain that my next four years would be spent taking classes in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and living out the classic highs and lows of the college experience. I never could have imagined imagined the ways the coronavirus pandemic would change my trajectory, including prompting my decision to take a yearlong leave of absence midway through college.

The pandemic's unforeseen onset forced Harvard students to leave campus in March 2020 and finish the semester online. I wasn’t fond of online classes. I missed little moments on campus: laughing with my friends in the dining hall, rowing down the Charles River, and walking through the Yard on a sunny afternoon. In July, when Harvard announced that classes would remain online through the 2020-21 academic year, I debated whether I should enroll. You go to college only once, I figured, and I wanted my college experience to be tangible and traditional.

In the end, I decided to take a leave of absence for the entire school year. Taking a leave of absence means pausing your coursework at Harvard for some amount of time after consulting with your academic advisors. Harvard students may choose to take a leave of absence for any number of reasons, including family matters, health concerns, or professional opportunities.

I was very fortunate to have my family’s approval and a job to support me financially during my year off. Not everyone had the privilege or opportunity to take a leave of absence during the pandemic, and I’m grateful that circumstances aligned in my favor.

I spent fall 2020 traveling with five of my best friends from Harvard. They visited me in Alaska in August, and then we spent September on the South Shore of Massachusetts. Our pod moved to Utah in October and Texas in November. I worked for a civic engagement nonprofit that partners with healthcare providers to get people ready to vote. The work was remote, which gave me the flexibility to travel.

By December, I was back home in Alaska. I got a second job – this time in-person – and committed to staying put through the summer. Most of my friends from high school were away at out-of-state colleges, but I made new friends and experienced my hometown in a novel and refreshing way. I bought new backcountry ski gear and spent my weekends exploring the mountains. As winter gave way to spring and summer, I continued to soak up the Alaska outdoor wonders that I miss so dearly when I’m on the East Coast.

Looking back, my time away from Harvard seems surreal. That year almost exists separately from the rest of my life, as if part of another timeline in an alternate universe. Yet the experiences and growth from that year endure. I got a dose of the professional world and learned about my career aptitudes. I traveled to places I had never been and met friends that I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. I rekindled my love for skiing and reaffirmed that connecting to nature is essential to my happiness. I switched my concentration at Harvard after realizing that my academic passions had expanded.

I returned to Harvard in fall 2021 more sure of myself and fully formed. I was nervous about re-adjusting to homework, tests, and deadlines, but to my surprise, my leave of absence actually sharpened my time management skills. Despite the lingering presence of the pandemic, my junior year has been the best one yet.

I have come to terms with the fact that my college experience will never be conventional. I will graduate a year later than expected, and my leave of absence bifurcates my time at Harvard into two streams. I’m okay with that. Life moves at a different pace for everyone.

If you’re a student considering a gap year or leave of absence, I encourage you to embrace the unknown. A year or semester away from the classroom can complement your education and transform you in radical and wonderful ways.