Ask HN: What would you do with a year off? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What would you do with a year off?

#31

Post by tigershen23 » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 3:20 PM UTC

contingencies wrote: post #22

tigershen23 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, t…

That's awesome, I'm looking into it now. Thanks man!

Re: Ask HN: What would you do with a year off?

#32

Post by bbcbasic » Mon, Apr 13, 2015, 8:48 PM UTC

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 :-)

Re: Ask HN: What would you do with a year off?

#33

Post by smileysteve » Tue, Apr 14, 2015, 12:07 AM UTC

tigershen23 wrote: post #14

smileysteve wrote: post #5

- 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.