Like many other seniors, Skylar Schutter was planning to apply to graduate school this fall and attend the following year. But after struggling for a semester to multitask between school and grad school, Schutter decided to forego applications, and graduate a semester early instead, putting off applications “for a year or two.”
During her gap year(s), Schutter said she intends to “start job-hunting full time,” but also has a back-up plan in the event that she can’t find a job right off the bat. Since many volunteer-based organizations have been impacted by the pandemic, she hopes to “remain as an asset to [her] community even if [she]’s not working, by seeking out a volunteer opportunity at a local food bank or homeless shelter.”
Kay Harris has a different story: Her original plans for post-graduation haven’t changed too much, but her options have widened. As a pre-medical student, Harris said that it has always been her intention to move on to medical school after graduating.
After studying remotely from Los Angeles this semester, Harris has found her academic interests shifting.
Being home made her “realize how much health disparities are exacerbated by the polluted environments that many minorities live in.” This prompted her to think about ways she could help out. Harris started an educational instagram account with some friends, @EJ4LAC, that lets her “educate Los Angeles County about environmental hazards present in their own backyards.”
Although this project was initially meant as a fun educational opportunity, Harris said she’s grown so passionate about her team’s work that she’s now campaigning for a state delegate position in order to push against injustices she sees at a higher level in her community. Harris shared that she’s now learned that “medicine and healthcare are very connected to community issues,” so advocating for those issues will definitely help her become a better and more understanding physician in the future.
Knowing that she wanted more experience before applying to law school, Sunnie Limson decided to earn a Paralegal Certificate from Boston University to prepare for her gap year. Limson said she applied to over 30 jobs in September, without success.
Sunnie’s chosen to “put off her job search until late January,” instead choosing to pursue two school counseling programs instead after receiving some promising emails about their programs. and to apply to two school counseling programs instead.” Limson said that she did not “want to go into law without serving people first,” which also prompted her to get an internship with the Legal Aid Society of Rochester in the Education Law Unit.
