Ask HN: What would you do with a year off?
I am taking a gap year and have no obligations from June of this year (when I graduate high school) until at least August 2016. At this point, I have no idea how I'm going to fill all of this time. I'd love to hear your suggestions for how best to take advantage of this opportunity.
A couple of notes on my situation:
- I'll be a minor (< 18 y/o) for this whole time period
- I have saved up a good amount of money from working this past year, so I'm okay on that front as long as I don't go crazy
- I've been accepted into a top-10 Computer Science program for admission this fall that doesn't let students defer for a whole year. I feel like I have a good shot at a top-5 or top-3 school if I apply again this fall (for admission next year). I don't necessarily want to go to college yet, but I also don't take being accepted there for granted.
- I'm located in the SF Bay Area
Cheers :) Whats the point of taking a gap year? I wouldn't take this unless you are extremely dedicated to some task, like a budding business, a dream to do something, something you are entirely into, not just an vague idea about taking a year off, especially considering you already have a top school accepting you. Waiting longer will probably only hurt your chances to get into a better school, not improve them. Beyond that, many people have taken "breaks" from school and then life catches up, so they never return. I would seriously consider just sticking it out and attending college. You'll have a lot of free time in college, at least in the beginning, to explore your own interests. I disagree. After high school I didn't know what I wanted to do and during the time I took off I discovered computers. If you have any doubt about what you want to do in life take some time to think about it. Totally disagree. In Sweden almost every kid takes a gap year (or more!) which prepares them much better for college. They have some time to live alone and transition, and can focus better when they get to school. Interesting thoughts, thank you. I feel like taking a gap year is an opportunity to learn things that I couldn't necessarily in a classroom. Applying again next year, I'll be able to include all of my grades and test scores from this academic year, which will be an improvement. As long as I show that I'm not just wasting a year of my life, I don't think a gap year will hurt my chances of getting into school. You also said that I'll have a lot of free time in college to explore my own interests, but isn't that a valid reason to take a gap year too? If I can go into college already knowing what's important to me and what I want to do, won't it make the experience that much better? WDYT? > You'll have a lot of free time in college, at least in the beginning, to explore your own interests. The gap year would be far better suited for this than multitasking passions and school time. - Go on a long term international trip to find out how things work in the rest of the world. Particularly Europe, Asia. - Blog several times a week about your new experiences. - Volunteer for stuff to meet people, concerts, events, conferences, sporting events. - Start a side project so that you will be ready to kick butt when you do start CS. - Any recommendations for specific places? Spain (I speak Spanish) and Japan are my top two destinations as of now - Definitely. - Sweet - would you recommend any organizations that organize this kind of stuff, or am I better off just googling around for things in my area? - No question. Thanks! I'd google for organizations you can help, but some ideas
- Habitat for Humanity (Global Venture could be good for travel too), a local ReStore, or a local house.
- A Meetup Near You
- A Startup Weekend Near You
- Ask a coworking space if you can be a coffee and copies intern
- Craigslist Gigs
- Your local church might know something. If you speak Spanish then South America is also a good option. Undergrad time in college is the perfect chance to explore and figure out what you want to do. I would recommend starting school, and taking a lighter course load including some things you might not take otherwise. I was a mechanical engineering major in college, but I wish I had taken more CS classes. If you have the means then plan to spend 4.5-5 years finishing school, or save your money so that you have more options after you finish college. I took about half a year off before grad school, and I loved it. For me that was much more valuable than if I had done something similar before undergrad. If you are interested, I spent my time off on a road trip across the US. My wife and I camped the entire time except for a few days with friends and 3 nights in hotels when we need some recovery time. It included a lot of hiking including up to 15 days straight on the trail. I've been wishing as a 29 y/o that I could find a way to take a year off from work without it financially ruining me, and spend that time both traveling and coding. I still have a lot to learn, but I've always had this burning desire to code deep down. It has manifested in building websites, but I want to dig deeper. I'm doing so to an extent, but with other obligations in life (mostly work), it ends up going on the back-burner more than I would like. I feel like I need a year of rearranging my life. A complete overhaul. Even if it's not all coding, but working for a non-profit or volunteering, doing other things that affect the world in positive ways, and/or traveling while doing these. I have traveled before and it was great to see the world from a different perspective. I feel I need that again. Maybe call it an expensive empathy-building exercise. The most important thing to do with your gap year is to really thing about what you actually want to do with the next few years of your life. Chances are you've never really thought about it. Certainly I just assumed that since I did really well in high school, enjoyed physics and got into a good school then studying Physics at University must be the right thing do. Since this matched up with all social expectations and since everybody around me told me that this was a really good idea, I never really questioned it. To cut a long story short, it probably wasn't the right thing to do then, and I ended up miserable and crashing out. So whatever you do end up doing with your time, take the luxury to throw out any pre-conceived notions of what you should do and really reflect over what you want to do. I'm working full time now and wish I had time to pursue artwork. I am now making photographs and printing them. But to really complete my concepts I need time and resources. If I had your year, I would find some art form and try to perfect it. Then go back to CS in the fall. Another option: go to Asia. And scuba dive. You can live in India for awhile for little no money. I spent 4 months traveling, diving and shooting photos and absolutely loved it. I don't think I learned a whole lot. But it was heaven. Maybe do that and have some goal in mind. And if you do travel, you're going to take photos (how can you not?). So get good at making photographs before you go if you do (take a street photography class). Awesome :) I'm very interested in photography, and I'm determined to document the year, so that's something I'll definitely be getting into. As a minor, traveling is a bit more trouble (not impossible), but getting away for a few months would be amazing. Thanks dude(tte)! Personally, I'd lock myself away and write a bunch of Apps. If I was you, I'd do some cheap traveling in South America or Southeast Asia. Man, If I had the money, I'd take the chance to see the world. Run around Asia and Europe and (the safe parts of) Africa. Meet some people. Find some good problems to solve. Build networks for future ideas. Maybe even fall in love ;) I work full time now at a fantastic job but I often wish to venture to places that technology haven't penetrated very deep and learn more about social structures and how oppressive they can be in the eastern world. A young person with passion can do a world of good things if they can find the right problem to solve, the right solution, and the right partners. Best of luck! Thanks! Being a minor restricts a lot of my options as far as being in less-developed countries for too long (liabilities, etc.), but it's something I'm interested in. Any suggestions for specific places to go? I hope you had some kind of plan before taking a year off. But maybe you just wanted a break from all the non-stop studying (since you were a child). There are so many ways... As extreme as: lock yourself in your basement and code for a year, all the way to travel the world. How many countries have you visited so far? If less than 3? Definitely try to double that number. You want to do crazy experiments (like Justin.tv)? Remember these recent posts about a github project that will accept any pull request? Let people suggest stuff, and do them (and report) [within reason]. Totally agree with alain94040. Come up with some crazy experiments to run and weave travel into it. Off the top of my head: * Visit an elderly center, tell them you're traveling, and let them request certain attractions in the city you're in. You GoPro the whole thing and upload it for them when you're done. * Come up with an interesting question and ask people as you travel e.g. "what do you think of americans?" , "what do you think of america?". Share the responses on a blog. * Go to Cuba and capture the density of wi-fi signals you get. Document it in such a way that someone besides you could rerun it in the future. Count me as jealous. Have fun and good luck! Yup, I mainly just want to learn/experience things that I wouldn't be able to in a classroom. Thanks for your suggestions! Travel will definitely happen, and I'll definitely document everything I do. I have taken a year off. It was great the first six months, then life caught up and it was just a race to get back to cashflow positive. The last six months undid everything good the first six did. Huh, that's interesting. I have the option of taking just 6 months off and then going to college in the Spring semester - is that what you would suggest doing? If you don't mind me asking, do you think you could go into more detail about what made the first six months great and the next six not so much? If you need to take time, do. If you don't need to, don't. That's the most I can say on that matter. I didn't go to school in the traditional sense, so whatever makes sense for you makes sense. What made the year off sort of a zero sum was that I had roughly enough cash to last roughly a year, but at about the halfway point I started looking for areas that I wanted to relocate to and worked on securing employment there. The stress of re-entering the workforce undid some of the decompression from leaving the corporate world in the first place. It was a great period for figuring out just what I wanted to do and what really mattered in life. If I had to do it again, I'd have more FU money, or at least have a more solid income stream that wasn't wholly dependent on me being at an office for ~8 hours a day. Lessons were learned, some easy, some hard. Plans are in action so that history won't repeat itself so closely next time I decide I need some time off. I think the biggest mistake people make is not "building their brand." Create a presence online, create one in meatspace and get known as someone worth knowing. For reference, I took some time off and wrote a book on a technical subject, created two big meetups and got hooked in with the local startup community. Now I go to local events and people are starting to actively seek me out. Sweet - I'd be lucky to accomplish half of that. Re: networking - do you think age is a factor? In your experience, have these meetups been inviting, or did it take a lot of effort on your part to start making connections? Just a different point of view, but when I finished high school I couldn't wait to get into university and start studying maths. I would have hated to have a gap year that would have delayed the amount of time before I start. So not sure why you would take a gap year without knowing what to do. Makes it seem like you don't want to study computer science? So maybe you can question why you are wanting to study? Is it your favourite subject? Do you code for fun? Is there another subject you'd rather be studying, but maybe isn't as 'acceptable' with the various pressures to conform? Hope this doesn't sound to harsh, but it is worth thinking about what you really want. Maybe THAT is why you need the year out. If so then I would suggest some kind of travel. Get away from the peer / teacher / parental pressures and enjoy yourself. You might get a feeling about what you really want to do. If you go crazy from not being able to fire up your IDE and crank out code, you may find that CS is right for you after all :-) I would probably sit down an write an entire video game in the style of some old game that I liked What kind of style? Travel, learn a human language. I speak English + Spanish, and want to learn Chinese but it's so different from the others. Thanks for your suggestions! I've successfully learned Chinese fluently. Spending a year hanging out in a nicer part of the mainland while working through books and paying a teacher for 1-on-1 lessons a few days a week (~100CNY=$16/hr) should get you conversational. I strongly recommend considering Yunnan: good standard Mandarin, excellent weather, friendly people, good food, many points of interest. Americans can now get 10 year visas easily, though you have to exit the country every 90 days. This means you don't have to tie yourself to a formal school and its (slow, tedious) pace, plus gives you a reason to travel. Yunnan has great options for the border hops on the cheap: Myanmar and Vietnam (visa available in Kunming) and Laos (visa on arrival) are right next door, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Thailand (visa on arrival) are also close. That's awesome, I'm looking into it now. Thanks man!