Normalizing the Ups and Downs of College Life

Johns Hopkins University attracts some of the brightest, highest-achieving students each year, many of whom come into their college or graduate school experience with big plans and a roadmap for pursuing their dreams. But what happens when those plans have to be put on hold?

The Office of Leave of Absence Administration, which opened in May 2025, guides Hopkins students across the university through every phase of taking a leave of absence, from the logistics of stepping away to the process of returning to campus. To learn more, we spoke to four undergraduate students who each put college on pause, centered their well-being, and came back thriving.

‘So many things can happen in your academic journey’

“There are so many students who have an expectation about how their time at Hopkins will play out,” says Kyley Sommer, who oversees the development and implementation of universitywide student policies and is the founding director of the Office of Leave of Absence Administration. “We have all been in situations where obstacles get in our path, and we need to put on our oxygen masks before focusing on the next part of our journey.” There is, however, no reason for an unplanned circumstance to extinguish a student’s long-term goals. For over 1,000 students each year,  a voluntary leave of absence is a helpful, sometimes necessary, resource to help them address personal, financial, or medical challenges that are significantly complicating their academic success. The university has made a concerted effort in recent years to ensure students feel fully supported while on leave. A universitywide Student Leave of Absence policy launched in January 2024, ensuring that there is a consistent policy across the university and that all students have equitable access to support before, during, and after they return from their leave.

While stepping away to take care of a personal matter can be a difficult choice to make, the university has staff in place to guide students through the decision. After meeting with a member of the Office of Leave of Absence Administration to discuss the challenges being faced, explore possible resources on and off campus, and work out the logistics of a possible leave of absence—such as financial and living situations or medical referrals—Hopkins students can elect to take a leave for up to one year and apply for an extension of up to two years, with the average leave being between one semester and one year.

“We’ve all been there,” says Elizabeth Winberry, former Senior Director of Student Outreach and Support, a unit within Student Affairs dedicated to helping Homewood undergraduate students manage obstacles that may arise during their college experience. “What we fail to recognize is that life happens: we have students lose parents, we have students who get diagnosed with cancer during their college career, students who break bones and have to take time off. So many things can happen.”

Each year, Krieger and Whiting’s Offices of Undergraduate Academic Advising, along with SOS and the newly-formed Office of Leave of Absence Administration, host a welcome back event where returning undergraduates can mingle with each other, meet supportive faculty and staff members, and hear from current students who have taken leave in the past and are proud to share their stories. For students returning from a leave for medical reasons, Mental Health Services also offers a support group, Return and Thrive, that gives students returning from a separation or any student seeking community and support a place to connect, learn practical skills, and hear presentations from different offices around campus in a safe, non-competitive space. “As we build out the Office of Leave of Absence, we hope to expand these resources in order to provide them to our graduate students, as well,” Sommer says.

‘Something I didn’t realize I needed’

For many students, taking leave can be a matter of centering themselves and recalibrating their goals. Third-year student JaLee Foster graduated high school in 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic and spent her first semester of college online. “I’m the oldest sibling and the first kid to go to college,” Foster says, “so it was rough getting through all that by myself. I was also, like a lot of people, not in a good place mentally during COVID and couldn’t really focus on school. I needed time to figure out what I actually wanted to do.”

Foster returned to Hopkins in fall 2023 and shifted her focus from behavioral biology to psychology. “Now, I have more motivation to get through things. I didn’t have any motivation the first time around; I didn’t know what I was working towards. Taking the leave and coming back, I’m more mentally prepared. And having SOS makes me feel like I’m not doing it by myself, which is honestly something I didn’t realize I needed.”

Also in his third year, Daniel Larsen started at Hopkins in fall 2022 and elected to take medical leave the same semester.

“Something was off,” Larsen says. “I could feel it in my gut; I just didn’t feel fulfilled. But interrupting your education is a hard decision and can seem like a big barrier.” He conferred with his academic adviser, Dan Ferrara, who ultimately helped him realize that leave was a realistic option.

Larsen, who began as a computer engineering major, began exploring an interest in neuroscience and cognitive science after returning to campus in fall 2023. “I was really nervous about the social aspect of coming back,” he says. “A lot of your friends are continuing on with their education, and you kind of feel like you’re taking a step back. In reality, returning went a lot smoother than I expected. The leave allowed me to put energy into places where I actually wanted to use it. And getting involved with organizations and things I really enjoy, like pep band and fiber arts, helped me find my group of people.”

‘FOMO should not stop you from actually taking care of yourself’

For other students, like senior Claire Cui, a leave of absence is a medical imperative. “At first I didn’t want to take medical leave,” says Cui. “I was diagnosed with leukemia in early June after my first year. I was supposed to be taking summer classes, and I didn’t want to cancel them. I wanted to keep going; I wanted to come back to Hopkins with my friends on time. But over time, it became better to take the year off so I could fully recover, both mentally and physically.”

Ashleigh Edwards, now a senior, was in her second year when she was diagnosed with mental health issues and ADHD. “It was earth shattering,” she says, “realizing things that seemed easy to me were only easy because I was in a fully structured environment eight hours a day. I worked three jobs in high school, so when I wasn’t as busy, I got quite depressed and behind on things.”

Edwards took leave for one year beginning spring 2022. “It just wasn’t feasible for me to learn the skills I needed to adapt to a new lifestyle while trying to practice them at the same time,” she says. Among the changes she made was her major, shifting from international studies and economics to political science and Writing Seminars. “I haven’t had a Writing Seminars professor yet who hasn’t blown my mind in some way,” she says.

Cui also made a change in academic focus from mechanical engineering to computer science and is now in her second year. “I found that taking time off helped me a lot in terms of looking at things from a different perspective and reconsider my priorities,” she says.

Among all of these students, there is one shared sentiment: If you feel like medical leave might be the right choice, it probably is.

“I haven’t met anyone who regretted it,” Cui states. “There’s always time to finish your degree.”

“FOMO should not stop you from actually taking care of yourself,” says Edwards. “Nothing is more important than your mental and physical health, and pushing yourself too hard will just make it harder to recover. Hopkins will wait for you.”