
Ask HN: Is a mid-college gap year worth it? - pjplucinski
I was thinking about whether or not to take a gap year between my junior and senior year of college. I would hopefully find a job with some startup for a couple months and travel as well. Is it worth my time? If yes, what other things do you all think would be worth doing? If no, why?
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mattbgates
Your life will become what it was meant to be no matter which path you choose.
Feel it in your heart as to what you really want to do.

So now for my two answers:

Yes: Get out there and experience the world and take advantage of it,
especially if you can. Warning: You must be disciplined enough to know this is
a gap year and go back.

No: Finish up college and get it done and after college, take a gap year from
working and join a volunteer program and live in another country.

Why? Aside from financial aid, I know that if I took off, I probably would not
have gone back. Already 7 years out of college and I have yet to go back for
my Masters Degree because I'm focusing on starting up a few businesses right
now and my job. I would love to go study what I love and want to know more
about, but I'm just too busy, and not in the right mindset, or have the money
(I refuse to take on more student debt), to go back to school.

I also "took off" a year after college, taking advantage of that student loan
repayment grace period of 6 months. I was actually able to defer all but one
student loan for another 6 months after I contacted the student loan
companies. I lived in Israel for a year, taught English, traveled around
there, immersed myself in the culture, learned a lot, and eventually,
discovered my passion. Before this, I was unsure about what I wanted to do. I
was teaching English to Ethiopian children and while I didn't mind doing it,
it wasn't something I enjoyed or wanted to keep doing.

Eventually, I was introduced to this organization that helped Israeli-
Ethiopian youth and they needed a website. Whatever they had.. if you could
call it a website, was nothing to write home about. So I learned how to build
websites, redesigned it, and they loved it.

Imagine if I had to go home and return back to college? It wouldn't have been
too bad, but after my year was up, I came home, looked for a job, and to make
a long story short -- just a few jobs later, I am now working as a web
developer full-time for the media.

What if I had never gone to Israel to learn about what I liked and what I was
interested in? While in college, I was planning to be a career counselor or a
consultant for the workplace, helping people to become better leaders, helping
college students discover their passions, or helping people who had a change
of heart to rediscover new careers. After college, I designed a popular
website, which helps me keep in touch with that passion:
[http://www.confessionsoftheprofessions.com](http://www.confessionsoftheprofessions.com)
\- a website dedicated to understanding jobs, careers, and the workplace.

What if I had to return back to college afterwards? I would've delayed
starting my career path. Who knows? I just wanted to graduate college and get
it all done in one shot. I have no regrets. I would love to go back to school,
but at the same time, this is the time for me to be focusing on the things I
want to be doing. Maybe in the future, school will be there and I can go for
my original dream, but for now, I do love what I do, and I get paid to do it.

Like I said, only you can decide what you really want to do. But life will
work out for you, either way, or you will find a way to make it work for you.

