Taking Time Off

[GZA]

Did you take a year (or more) off from school? Why and what did you do, and what good experiences came of it?

How about taking a year off after school but before getting a "real" job? Anyone with experiences doing that?

Would you recommend taking time off?

 

[Yossarian]

I left school without knowing what I wanted to do. I went straight into a science degree course but realised after three months that it was not for me and there was no point in seeing it out because I would be betraying myself. My family were cool with it. I didn't have a Plan B so I ended up doing nothing for a year. I lived at home, watched tv, read, went for walks, babysat, met up with friends etc etc. I just chilled out for a while and got to know myself.

Eventually, a friend told me about a course that was running in my local college. It sounded interesting so I went along for the interview and spent three years studying animal welfare, veterinary assisance and dog-grooming. I enjoyed it but not half as much as the other people in my class who were passionate about it. I completed it and went on to work in the media!

The year out was vital for me to get some headspace.

 

[Usehername]

I took time off. I went to Africa and devoted a year to immersion in an environment vastly different than any I'd previously experienced. It developed me in all sorts of ways that I couldn't replicate in my home country, and for that I'm grateful.

I would recommend it to anyone who has the means.

I didn't end up discovering a career plan. What it did do in that vein, however, was remove a lot of the confounding variables that made me feel uncertain about my priorities (e.g. do I just like xyz because of the interpersonal environment or do I actually like the xyz as it stands on its own?). It gave me a whole new playground or framework to test out my interests. I had much more information and therefore felt much more confident about the way in which I was perceiving and ranking my priorities. I wasn't immediately able to nail down specifics, but I was able to say, "this is important to me, period. These are the possibilities out there that let me acknowledge this importance in my daily life."

If I could choose a second adventure and not incur the financial costs, I'd chill out in some relatively low cost of living place in Europe, Asia or South America and learn a second language by immersion in the culture.