The future is unwritten, but UT knows what will happen.
Jag, a years experience in your present field gives you a nice plum on your resume and a safety net to go back to if you change your mind.
It also gives you contacts and credibility/ background in that field, for photojournalist assignments that might involve it. The more background knowlege the better for knowing when and where to be, rather than just shooting from the hip.
a year to plan, equip and network, before you make a move, might be an advantage. It lets editors know you're serious rather than just off on a whim.
The biggest danger is, in working a good paying job for a year you could get in debt, get used to discretionary income, meet your soulmate or (always fatal) fall in love.
I regret the things I didn't do for fear of either failure or punishment, orders of magnitude more than the things I did and failed or got punished for.
Come to think of it, even the failures led to some interesting tangents. So go for it but go smart.....and send us pictures.