[ottocoder]

Not going to college right away after high school.

I wanted to be a trombone player in a major US symphony but realized that while I could be accepted by many good schools, I wasn't good enough to get accepted into the "greats" (e.g. Julliard, Curtis, etc). I decided instead to join the Marines and became a Marine musician (the military is one of the largest employers of musicians in the US). I am very lucky to have made that choice for a number of reasons, but ultimately it made me realize that I didn't love music as much as I thought.

The military isn't for everyone, but I recommend everyone give it some serious consideration. In addition to the altruistic reasons to join there many great benefits for when you get out. Mine include

   1) Learning my original life-plan for after high school wasn't a good fit for me (while getting paid to make that realization).

   2) Getting college paid for (with some scholarships I was able to stretch the GI bill into nearly 5 years and got a Math/CS double major.

   3) This is the big one: I live in San Diego (a "military friendly town") and having military experience won't guarantee you a job, but many employers here will at least talk to you and give you a chance to make an impression beyond your resume.

A big negative (besides the possibility of risk to life/limb/mental health) is that you give up the "traditional" college experience. It may take some extra time to find where you fit in when/if you do decide to go back to school. However, that's probably true for anybody who delays college for more than a year or two.