Like a Gap Year, Only Longer: Returning to Academia After an Extended Break

Putting things in perspective

I didn’t have a great time as an undergraduate. Perhaps I made the wrong choice of subject, and/or of university, but I think my biggest mistake was choosing to go straight to university. My life up to that point had been centred on passing the next exam, and university was just an extension of that: I had no career plans, no conception of what I was trying to pass exams for, it was just an end in itself. It’s not surprising that, by the time finals arrived, I was dreaming of running away to live in the mountains and keep chickens and never having to sit another exam in my life.

Having variously satisfied the mountain-dwelling/chicken-keeping urges during eight or so years of miscellaneous non-academic adventures, I enrolled on a Masters programme with a radically different attitude to education. The Masters in Sustainable Food and Natural Resources was a slightly unconventional one, mainly distance learning and delivered by the Centre for Alternative Technology, rather than a university. It unexpectedly turned out to be my gateway back into more “mainstream” academia; I am now working on a PhD project at the University of Birmingham spanning molecular biology and soil science.

My time away from academia taught me two things:

• Exams are not the be-all and end-all
• Academic research can help to make the world a better place

I would highly recommend taking some time away from academia to figure out what you want to achieve beyond the grades.

Regaining enthusiasm

It’s possible to end up doing a Masters, or even a PhD, by default. You don’t know what else to do, your grades are decent, so you stay in education.

By contrast, to come back into education after some time in the (ahem) “real world”, requires more of an active decision. Unless the qualification is necessary for your career, you’ll probably only make that decision if you have some genuine enthusiasm for your subject. This enthusiasm is enormously important – not to mention being something you can flaunt in your applications.

For me, the enthusiasm for learning grew in proportion to the time I had spent away. I’ve also developed a much deeper sense of gratitude for my education. It’s all too easy to grumble about long hours in the lab or the excessive amounts of reading to plough through – but having also worked 15-plus hour days in hotel jobs, I know what I’d rather be doing. I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to devote my time to research.

Expanding your skills and experience

Some people take a break from academia and spend it doing something relevant to their past and/or future studies but I filled my “gap decade” with activities unrelated to either my Bachelors or my Masters degree (which, incidentally, were in completely different subjects, as an undergraduate, I read History).

In all honesty, I thought this would be regarded unfavourably but I realised that I’d actually gained a whole bunch of skills for my application. Hugely important skills such as time-management and organisation from juggling various part-time jobs and volunteering commitments, and interpersonal skills from travelling.

If, like me, you were the kind of undergraduate who hid in the library 24/7, it’s spending time in the “real world” that helps you out with your CV!

Challenges

A lot of us returning to academia after a break can feel a bit out of place, but mature students are no longer a rarity. Within a few weeks of beginning my PhD, I found myself chatting to someone who’d started a PhD in her retirement, and she’s not the only one! There are still a lot of students who have gone straight from Bachelors to Masters to PhD – but also enough of us who’ve taken alternative routes that I don’t feel like the odd one out.

Adjusting to technological change has been slightly more challenging – in my undergrad days we still had to visit an actual physical library to read journal articles on paper. I don’t relish the amount of time spent looking at a screen, and I do frequently get frustrated with the online teaching platform– but I suspect these sentiments are not unique to older students.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for me has been overcoming the pervasive sense that I have “wasted time” and will never catch up with others who have followed a more consistent path. This is a dangerous and counterproductive mindset to fall into. But, stepping back and taking a broader view, I really believe that the varied experiences I had during those years away from academia more than compensate.

So, to anyone who is considering taking a break from academia, I would say: do it. It opens more doors than it closes. And to anyone who has taken a break and is nervous about returning: remember that there are many of us in the same boat, and that the wider experiences you’ll be bringing with you are just as valuable as a few extra years in the lab or the library.

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