Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by chiffonade 6300 days ago
> 3-4 of the best years of your life is a hefty price to pay

Those 3-4 aren't really going to be the best unless you're in an environment with young girls, beer, drugs, and class, where you get to meet new people.

What are you going to do, get a job instead?

Don't make me laugh.
1 comments
extension 6300 days ago
In my town, you do all that in high school. By the time you start uni, you either have peers from school or peers from outside school who you found because there were no other weird people in your school. There's nothing special going on at uni and whatever there is is perfectly accessible to everyone else.

I'd say the connections in my extended social network are 5% through high school, 1% through uni, 10% through doing random stuff and the rest through friends. That network provides me with a more or less steady supply of jobs, girlfriends, cool dudes and assorted adventures. And, it's part of the real, permanent world and not some expensive fantasy camp that you have to leave behind when the vacation's over.

Maybe things are different here, but if it works for us, it can work for anyone, and economics may soon force the matter.

If people want to hook up, get high and party, they'll make it happen wherever they are and whatever they're doing, so they might as well be doing something useful.

link
rapind 6299 days ago
If all you're going to end up with at the end of uni are some good stories, you can condense the partying to 1 year of backpacking far more efficiently and cheaply. I personally believe the experience is far superior, and the lessons learnt more valuable. Depending on how you travel of course.

So imho if you're basing uni's value purely on the social aspect then it comes up way short. Instead, go travel for a year or three, figure out who you are and what you're passionate about, then get to it. You're forced to be social in both atmosphere's.

Compare a four year degree to two years of travel and two years work experience in your chosen field. Which do you think has the edge?

link
chiffonade 6299 days ago
> Compare a four year degree to two years of travel and two years work experience in your chosen field. Which do you think has the edge?

With the right school, you can do all 3.

link