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Comment by keiferski | Hacker News Reader

I think there's definitely some value in taking time off to figure out where you're going (and where you want to be.)

Keeping your head down and finishing for the sake of finishing is probably not going to end well; you'll be in debt, you will have lost the opportunity cost of your time in school, and you still might not know what you want to do.

Don't be the guy who's in debt from a degree in a field he doesn't want to work in.

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> I think there's definitely some value in taking time off to figure out where you're going (and where you want to be.)

Do you really have to take time off to do that? Does college take up so many hours a week that it simply leaves zero time for you to "figure out where you're going"?

Seriously?

Yes and no. It's not just about the time but about being in an environment that is conducive to those birds-eye-view thoughts, and stepping out of the environment you're currently in to gain perspective.

No need for the hostility.

My point was that continuing on along a path (staying in school) might not be the best action, and oftentimes it's hard to step back and get a sense of things when you're fulltime in school. Not to mention the debt you'll acquire and time you'll waste going down a wrong path.

A lot of students spend 2-4 years "trying to figure out where I'm going and what I want to be". Insofar as they haven't figured it out, and won't figure it out in that time, perhaps best if they take some time off and stop spending huge piles of money they don't have getting to where they don't want to go.

To wit: the First Law Of Holes is "stop digging".

I agree with this. I left school because I realized what I wanted to do and it WASN'T I.T. administration. I didn't want to end up at a huge corporation wearing a suit and hating my life. Now I work doing what I love and I'm learning a lot from others using hands on experience. Eventually I will start my own business which is what I truly want. If you have a vision and the motivation; and you know you can do it without school, go for it.

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