#My100Days: Doing a little of everything
An interview with Natalie Seara (CGS’20, COM’22)
Tell us about what you did during your gap semester!
So I took classes over the gap semester at Northern Virginia Community College. I also traveled to Iceland, I went to Disney World for New Year’s, I kept performing with the Fairfax Chinese Dance Troupe, I voted for the first time. I also worked at Charlotte Russe as a sales associate. I visited friends at their colleges so I went to UC Santa Barbara, William & Mary, and University of Miami. And then I got my boating license, too. Originally I thought I was going to get a real estate license and take classes online but we decided to go with a boating license because it’s pretty cool.
When you were thinking about what you wanted to do during the gap semester, how did you plan things out?
My mom and I sat down and we looked at the CGS website just to see what students actually did. I knew that I wanted to take classes over the gap semester which kind of affected how I planned my gap semester. I knew that I also wanted to travel. We kind of just took it step by step.
Which classes did you take during the gap semester? Were they for your major or for fun or both?
I took microeconomics and Film 160. My advisor recommended taking microeconomics just to see if I liked it or not. For film, it was an option for the College of Communications so I wanted to explore that. I decided to go into the College of Communication, but not for film, and minor in business.
So you talked with your advisor about the classes you were going to take?
I called her three times. She was extremely helpful. It was hard not to see her face to face but she really calmed me down and she made it easy to get credit for the classes that I took and she explained registration to me.
What was it like to visit your friends after they’d started college and you were doing your gap semester?
I thought it was very interesting because they went to different types of schools and different locations for their colleges, and it kind of made me grateful that I chose Boston University. It was weird — I’m not going to lie– having them go to classes and having friends and knowing what they want to do and being in college. But it was really nice to catch up and they gave me tips for what to do and what not to do in college. That gap semester, I really used them for tips. It also helped establish long distance relationships with my friends, and I definitely think that we established how to communicate in the long run, which is going to help our friendship.
Looking back, what were some of the highlights of your gap semester?
I would say spending time with my family because in high school I didn’t really have much time to do that. During the gap semester your life is kind of on pause, which is nice because you can do whatever you want to do and explore whatever you want to do. It’s really up to you and you’re living in the moment. So it was really nice to spend some time with my family and my dogs.
How was your work experience as a sales associate? What did you feel like you got out of it?
I really liked it. There was a sense of community. It also taught me some skills about actually being in retail. I want to go into advertising, so it gave me a sneak peek of some of the jobs in advertising. I actually got some advice from my manager and the people who work there on what to take and career paths. It confirmed that I was going in the right direction.
What tips would you have for other students?
I would really recommend sitting down with your parents because it’s really about how you communicate with your parents. They can help you with the decisions for what you want to do. My mom wanted to travel and I was like “Hey, I’m up for traveling–now’s the time!”
Tell us more about your travels with your mom in Iceland.
I got to see the Blue Lagoon. It was cold–it prepared me for Boston for sure! The people were really nice. I just really liked traveling especially since it’s a different environment than the US. And it was a new experience when my mom told me that I should learn how to plan. She knew that I was going to Europe and that I wanted to go to Greece, so she said “Iceland is the perfect chance for you to learn how to adult, learn how to plan a trip.” It really helped me in planning my trip to Greece after London.
What were some of the skills you took out of the gap semester? What did you learn?
Learning how to time-manage and learning how to schedule was a really big help during the gap semester. I would also say keeping up relationships and friendships long distance, creating a support system, and learning how to plan a trip.
Natalie catalogued her gap semester and her London semester on the Instagram account, @MyBUAdventures. Check out her Instagram for more pictures and highlights of her BU experience.