Taking a year off... - Page 2

Stratus · 12-10-2004, 01:07 AM

And you know what, I'll bet it wasn't a wasted year for them. I'll bet they just don't realize what it did for them.

Clodfobble · 12-10-2004, 07:06 AM

Well, come back after you're done with your first year in college, and let us know if it worked for you.

As for the perceived lack of creativity and assembly-line education, rest assured that generations of 18-year-olds before you have felt the same way. It's a symptom of your age, not the times we live in. College certainly can be that way, or it also can be the perfect environment in which to "find yourself" because you're surrounded with a wide variety of people your own age with different experiences.

So, it wasn't clear to me: are you going to be a cop, or are you going to go into networking?

Beestie · 12-10-2004, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

So, it wasn't clear to me: are you going to be a cop, or are you going to go into networking?

Well there's always cybercrime. Prevention, I mean.

richlevy · 12-11-2004, 10:30 AM

My son is considering the same thing. With the options that are out there, I might even agree if he agrees to work during his time off from college. I ended up going to college and trade school for computing, so I don't have any bias towards either.

BTW, Stratus, I'm not sure if you wanted to use the phrase 'loose friends'. You generally lose friends. Using loose as a verb implies unleashing or setting a restrained animal (or person) onto a target, as in let loose the dogs of war. If you do a google search for "loose upon" you will see some examples in sports reporting.

Of course, with everyone calling their friends 'dogs' or 'posse' these days, you could make an argument for saying "While I stayed home, I let loose my friends upon an unsuspecting flock of colleges and universities."

xoxoxoBruce · 12-11-2004, 06:00 PM

Quote:

I'm not sure if you wanted to use the phrase 'loose friends'. You generally lose friends. Using loose as a verb implies unleashing or setting a restrained animal (or person) onto a target, as in let loose the dogs of war.

Maybe Stratus is a friend of the Prez.

Stratus · 12-12-2004, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richlevy

My son is considering the same thing. With the options that are out there, I might even agree if he agrees to work during his time off from college. I ended up going to college and trade school for computing, so I don't have any bias towards either.

BTW, Stratus, I'm not sure if you wanted to use the phrase 'loose friends'. You generally lose friends. Using loose as a verb implies unleashing or setting a restrained animal (or person) onto a target, as in let loose the dogs of war. If you do a google search for "loose upon" you will see some examples in sports reporting.

Of course, with everyone calling their friends 'dogs' or 'posse' these days, you could make an argument for saying "While I stayed home, I let loose my friends upon an unsuspecting flock of colleges and universities."

Heh, way to miss the point!

richlevy · 12-12-2004, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stratus

Heh, way to miss the point!

The point being......

skateboard · 12-12-2004, 11:07 PM

At that age, I recommend focusing on ones ambition. And if one lacks ambition, go to school if it is available.

If one has some thing one must do, besides school, and if one needs some time to test out this thing, do it, by all means.

Apply oneself as hard as one can, time is not plentiful. If one applies themselves full steam during youth, one can accomplish much in a short time.

At my age, my education is my most valuable asset and it made my favorite memories.

If I was going to take a year off now, I would use it to go to school.

xoxoxoBruce · 12-15-2004, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richlevy

The point being......

Obviously, being able to communicate effectively, it's not, Rich.

Stratus · 12-16-2004, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skateboard

At that age, I recommend focusing on ones ambition. And if one lacks ambition, go to school if it is available.

If one has some thing one must do, besides school, and if one needs some time to test out this thing, do it, by all means.

Apply oneself as hard as one can, time is not plentiful. If one applies themselves full steam during youth, one can accomplish much in a short time.

At my age, my education is my most valuable asset and it made my favorite memories.

If I was going to take a year off now, I would use it to go to school.

I agree with you 100 percent. Most people my age do not understand that if things are done at an early age, things are much easier. I wish my parents had taught me french when I was younger, as they had been taught. Now I have to do it the hard way. A child's mind is a spunge. With time that spunge begins to harden and does not absorb as it once did.

I did have things I needed to do, and still do. I'm certainly glad I took the time to do those things.

lookout123 · 12-16-2004, 04:25 PM

oh, come on - it can't bethat hard to learn french. start with the basics, like "i hate america", then move on to "Americans are so uncivilized", then for your graduate work "yes Mr Annan, you can skim millions as long as Mr Chirac gets his cut" with those phrases in your vocabulary, you will be golden. oh yeah, don't forget "bush is stupid'

mrnoodle · 12-17-2004, 03:51 PM

I was about to make some smart-ass comment about how they teach vocabulary in college, but then I looked up spunge.

My bad.

Anyway, I think that taking a year off won't really matter one way or the other. It's not wasted time, but it's not likely to cause some profound directional shift in your life, either. At the end of the year, you'll probably still want to be a cop, but take the networking job because it pays well. And life will be happening in the meantime. You might fall in love, lose a limb, win the lottery, or otherwise be inconvenienced. So don't sweat it. Just do what you think you ought to, and understand that if it doesn't work out, you might have to take door #2. One's "happiness" is independent of this decision, IMO.

dammit. i've forgotten how to be sarcastic and biting.

breakingnews · 12-17-2004, 04:12 PM

I went straight to college from high school - I never considered a year off, nor would I - but the real decision came after graduating in May 2003. I was in such a rush to get places that I was perpetually impatient. My best friend pointed this out when he said to someone that I thought "life was going to go on without me." He's absolutely right. I was so terrified that I would get left behind that I was constantly paranoid about what I would do or where I would live next.

I did it all - left my first gig for a job at a big company, moved to New York City - but in hindsight I really don't know to where I was in such a rush to go. Not that I don't have plenty of time ahead of my 24 years on this planet to slack off and do other things, but all this stress over the past year and a half has actually kind of ruined my post-college experience.

So, while I don't personally condone taking a year between high school and college (college is SOO freakin easy and it's so much fun - why not go right away?), my point is that one should not wear oneself thin thinking about what one *should* or *should not* be doing with one's life. At least not for now. Just enjoy it. Find something to do and do it. Life will always be there when you're done finding yourself. Why I plan to run away and bike in the alps for a few years while attempting to be some sort of photojournalist.

glatt · 12-17-2004, 04:21 PM

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to nought
Or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way
The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I'd something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
When I come home cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells

Stratus · 12-17-2004, 05:03 PM

That's really pretty. Did you make that?

Breakingnews: I appreciate your opinion. I do believe that for alot of people it is a good idea, and of course, for alot of people it is a bad idea.

School should be fun and easy! Unfortunately for many, school has become a challenging and tough place to be. Advanced placement this, honors that, etc... I guess that's always existed though. I just don't think there needs to be such a rush for education, In my opinion.

12-11-2004, 10:30 AM	#19
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	My son is considering the same thing. With the options that are out there, I might even agree if he agrees to work during his time off from college. I ended up going to college and trade school for computing, so I don't have any bias towards either. BTW, Stratus, I'm not sure if you wanted to use the phrase 'loose friends'. You generally lose friends. Using loose as a verb implies unleashing or setting a restrained animal (or person) onto a target, as in let loose the dogs of war. If you do a google search for "loose upon" you will see some examples in sports reporting. Of course, with everyone calling their friends 'dogs' or 'posse' these days, you could make an argument for saying "While I stayed home, I let loose my friends upon an unsuspecting flock of colleges and universities." __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama

12-12-2004, 11:07 PM	#23
skateboard Alphabetarian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NYC Posts: 12	Ambition At that age, I recommend focusing on ones ambition. And if one lacks ambition, go to school if it is available. If one has some thing one must do, besides school, and if one needs some time to test out this thing, do it, by all means. Apply oneself as hard as one can, time is not plentiful. If one applies themselves full steam during youth, one can accomplish much in a short time. At my age, my education is my most valuable asset and it made my favorite memories. If I was going to take a year off now, I would use it to go to school.

12-16-2004, 04:25 PM	#26
lookout123 changed his status to single Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Right behind you. No, the other side. Posts: 10,308	oh, come on - it can't bethat hard to learn french. start with the basics, like "i hate america", then move on to "Americans are so uncivilized", then for your graduate work "yes Mr Annan, you can skim millions as long as Mr Chirac gets his cut" with those phrases in your vocabulary, you will be golden. oh yeah, don't forget "bush is stupid' __________________ Getting knocked down is no sin, it's not getting back up that's the sin

12-17-2004, 03:51 PM	#27
mrnoodle bent Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: under the weather Posts: 2,656	I was about to make some smart-ass comment about how they teach vocabulary in college, but then I looked up spunge. My bad. Anyway, I think that taking a year off won't really matter one way or the other. It's not wasted time, but it's not likely to cause some profound directional shift in your life, either. At the end of the year, you'll probably still want to be a cop, but take the networking job because it pays well. And life will be happening in the meantime. You might fall in love, lose a limb, win the lottery, or otherwise be inconvenienced. So don't sweat it. Just do what you think you ought to, and understand that if it doesn't work out, you might have to take door #2. One's "happiness" is independent of this decision, IMO. dammit. i've forgotten how to be sarcastic and biting. __________________ Sìn a nall na cuaranan sin. -- Cha mhór is fheairrde thu iad, tha iad coltach ri cat air a dhathadh

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12-10-2004, 01:07 AM	#16
Stratus Writer of Writings Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 14	And you know what, I'll bet it wasn't a wasted year for them. I'll bet they just don't realize what it did for them.

12-10-2004, 07:06 AM	#17
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	Well, come back after you're done with your first year in college, and let us know if it worked for you. As for the perceived lack of creativity and assembly-line education, rest assured that generations of 18-year-olds before you have felt the same way. It's a symptom of your age, not the times we live in. College certainly can be that way, or it also can be the perfect environment in which to "find yourself" because you're surrounded with a wide variety of people your own age with different experiences. So, it wasn't clear to me: are you going to be a cop, or are you going to go into networking?

12-17-2004, 04:12 PM	#28
breakingnews Q_Q Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: somewhere in between Posts: 995	I went straight to college from high school - I never considered a year off, nor would I - but the real decision came after graduating in May 2003. I was in such a rush to get places that I was perpetually impatient. My best friend pointed this out when he said to someone that I thought "life was going to go on without me." He's absolutely right. I was so terrified that I would get left behind that I was constantly paranoid about what I would do or where I would live next. I did it all - left my first gig for a job at a big company, moved to New York City - but in hindsight I really don't know to where I was in such a rush to go. Not that I don't have plenty of time ahead of my 24 years on this planet to slack off and do other things, but all this stress over the past year and a half has actually kind of ruined my post-college experience. So, while I don't personally condone taking a year between high school and college (college is SOO freakin easy and it's so much fun - why not go right away?), my point is that one should not wear oneself thin thinking about what one should or should not be doing with one's life. At least not for now. Just enjoy it. Find something to do and do it. Life will always be there when you're done finding yourself. Why I plan to run away and bike in the alps for a few years while attempting to be some sort of photojournalist.

12-17-2004, 04:21 PM	#29
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town Waiting for someone or something to show you the way Tired of lying in the sunshine Staying home to watch the rain And you are young and life is long And there is time to kill today And then one day you find Ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run You missed the starting gun And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death Every year is getting shorter Never seem to find the time Plans that either come to nought Or half a page of scribbled lines Hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way The time is gone The song is over Thought I'd something more to say Home, home again I like to be here when I can When I come home cold and tired It's good to warm my bones beside the fire Far away across the field The tolling of the iron bell Calls the faithful to their knees To hear the softly spoken magic spells

12-17-2004, 05:03 PM	#30
Stratus Writer of Writings Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 14	That's really pretty. Did you make that? Breakingnews: I appreciate your opinion. I do believe that for alot of people it is a good idea, and of course, for alot of people it is a bad idea. School should be fun and easy! Unfortunately for many, school has become a challenging and tough place to be. Advanced placement this, honors that, etc... I guess that's always existed though. I just don't think there needs to be such a rush for education, In my opinion.

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