Oh, gosh. This happens pretty often! College kids dump something on parents, parents fret and stew over it, while kid has moved on and recovered their balance (at least for the moment). So glad his peers helped out with this!!
No, you did not freak out about nothing. Back when you started the thread… You could not have possibly known what he would say to you today. 
Hugs.
I don’t think kids realize how much they can stir us up!
My husband took a year off between junior and senior year of college. He was able to get a lot of good experience in his field and was more employable as a result.
If your son doesn’t want that I would encourage a study abroad. Barring that, an immersive vacation with a focus on seeing graphic arts in another cultural context.
" A friend who is a senior said that the advanced level courses are much more challenging I think this appealed to him "
Nothing like good friends to tell you that you aren’t quite as smart as you think you are…
LOL - caught up on posts. I was just going to throw in another pitch about getting the piece of paper as someone who has hired in tech. Whew, dodged that bullet! So glad for you! If he’s getting good opportunities as a student, it does sound like a really good program.
@intparent He has barely a clue right now how affected I was by his talk of leaving school. His emotions are everywhere. We spoke last night again and he has decided to let his girlfriend go completely and keep doing no contact for 6 months. He knows she needs to get herself healthy. They will connect again and in the future to see if being friends will work.
@BunsenBurner Thank you! I still had lots of thoughts running through my head last night.
@“Snowball City” Love the immersive vacation idea!
@gouf78 Yes!! And you know our son has always respected our opinions and advice, but having a friend who is experiencing the actual work he’ll be doing tell him this was the key!
Regarding immersive vacation- my kids grew up thinking it was normal to spend an inordinate amount of time in Turkish supermarkets, Aboriginal galleries, Spanish home ware stores, poster displays of Soviet propaganda, watching ads in Japanese, etc. All of this goes into my husband’s brain for future design inspiration.