What should I do if I’m really really depressed…I want to take a gap year :(

First I will say that if you’re depressed, I highly recommend talking to someone about those feelings. They are natural, common, and you deserve as much happiness as anyone else in the world. BC counseling (bit.ly/BC-counseling) can help you work through some of what you’re feeling. As for a gap year, that’s not necessarily a bad idea. Taking some time away from school may help you re-focus and provide a broader context for your studies. If you do decide to take a gap year, I recommend trying to make the best of the time by working in a field you’re interested in or gaining other quality life experiences.

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.