The way you look at this question, in large part I believe, is based on what sort of culture you grow up in.
I come from the U.S., and I am greatly dismayed by the "conveyor belt" approach so many of the young people in my country take to this process:
HURRY!-GET-OUT-OF-HIGH-SCHOOLL!!HURRY!!HURRY!!ENRO LL-IN-COLLEGE!HURRY!!GRADUATE-IN-4-YEARS!!HURRY!!! START-YOUR-REST-OF-YOUR-LIFE-JOB-A-WEEK-AFTER-YOU- GRADUATE!!HURRY!!
It's that absurd when you step back and take a look at it.
That being said- Here's a few things to consider about taking time off and traveling/working in cool places-
I. YOU CAN'T DO THIS WHEN YOU'RE OLDER
-Once you have a wife and kids this is not an option. Period. Do it now, while you're young.
You'll never regret missing out on making a few bucks- but you _will_ regret not taking the chances you had when you had them.
II. YOU CAN LIVE IN THE GREATEST PLACES ON EARTH AS A WAITER OR A COOK
-All those burnt out middle class folks that take vacations to places that they wished they lived in? You can live there!! Be a waiter or a line cook at a resort on a tropical island somewhere. The fact that you speak English well? - makes it even easier. You won't get rich, but you'll have the time of your life.
III. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT NOW
-Some colleges like to see that students took a year off before enrolling- ask the admissions people at the schools you are aplying to- but you don't _have_ to do it now. I took a total of two years off during my college tenure to live in Galcier National Park in the Rocky Mountains. Do it at strategic times in your academic career- after you finish a "block" of classes that are required for your major, for example.
Implied in the above advice I've given is that you should _live_ in a few different places for a short while- not just travel there. It will make all the difference in your life- and it might even lead to some unexpected "connections" when you start to look for a job.
Good luck, my friend.
Or really any degree that shows you can write/communicate well. It might be a good idea to minor in something like that if you can't swing the double major. The biggest fear that most employers have when looking at candidates for positions in IT is ending up with a "Nick Burns - Your Company's Computer Guy" (from Saturday Night Live) sort of character. You can argue as to whether that fear has any basis in fact; but I digress. No one wants to bring someone on staff that makes the workplace more unpleasant for everyone else.
Oh, by the way- YOU'RE WELCOME!!!!!!!
With M$ tethered to the viciously unpopular offshoring issue, this move just makes sense; "How can you justify giving taxpayer dollars to companies that are hell-bent on shipping your constituent's jobs overseas?". They should have been asking this question a _long_ time ago.
I think it's just inevitable that some politician at some point was going to wake up and get a clue...
This is a huge industry that is screaming for a safe-haven somewhere. I really wish this Penguin Park could have gone somewhere that really needed it, like my rust-belt hometown of Youngstown, Ohio; but kudos to the Oregon governor for opening his eyes to the situation.
"You are wasteful and expensive."
Bull. Don't get indignant just because we come from a country with decent labor standards.
Those standards weren't developed overnight; There were Americans that _died_..._died_ my friend, so that we could enjoy a decent life for a decent day's work. There are and always have been people posessed by inhuman greed that stand to benefit by undermining and circumventing those standards that Americans died for; The Robber Barons never really went away- they've always been out there waiting to take advantage of something like the situation that we have now. They are getting rich by exporting the economy that _our_ fathers built for us and importing _your_ labor standards. No one here hates you; get over it. It's impossible for you to understand the situation we're in because _your_ fathers never stood up to these greedy bastards and _sacrificed their lives_ the way that ours did. I know a lot of Americans proceed with the belief that our way of life is an entitlement, but the truth of the matter is that we _fought_ for it every step of the way with democracy, a brotherhood of workers, and our lives when the Robbers Barons bought troops from our own government to kill us for having the gall to stand up and demand fair treatment.
Dismissing the things that our people died for with smug comments like "Dude, did I take your job?" isn't helping anyone. And yes, I probably would get angry and maybe even verbally abusive if I heard someone who was trying to undermine what the people in my country fought for like that; no matter what color their skin was.
No one hates you; you have to realize that to both Americans workers and American Robber Barons you represent a leap back in time that most people don't want to make. We already shed our blood for our way of life. When you stand up to these people the way that we did, then we will have no qualms about trading with you sans restrictions.
In the meantime, don't try to make me feel guilty because my grandfather got attacked for wanting fair treatment for his coworkers in the mill.
Slashdot Mirror
The way you look at this question, in large part I believe, is based on what sort of culture you grow up in. I come from the U.S., and I am greatly dismayed by the "conveyor belt" approach so many of the young people in my country take to this process: HURRY!-GET-OUT-OF-HIGH-SCHOOLL!!HURRY!!HURRY!!ENRO LL-IN-COLLEGE!HURRY!!GRADUATE-IN-4-YEARS!!HURRY!!! START-YOUR-REST-OF-YOUR-LIFE-JOB-A-WEEK-AFTER-YOU- GRADUATE!!HURRY!!
It's that absurd when you step back and take a look at it.
That being said- Here's a few things to consider about taking time off and traveling/working in cool places-
I. YOU CAN'T DO THIS WHEN YOU'RE OLDER
-Once you have a wife and kids this is not an option. Period. Do it now, while you're young.
You'll never regret missing out on making a few bucks- but you _will_ regret not taking the chances you had when you had them.
II. YOU CAN LIVE IN THE GREATEST PLACES ON EARTH AS A WAITER OR A COOK
-All those burnt out middle class folks that take vacations to places that they wished they lived in? You can live there!! Be a waiter or a line cook at a resort on a tropical island somewhere. The fact that you speak English well? - makes it even easier. You won't get rich, but you'll have the time of your life.
III. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT NOW
-Some colleges like to see that students took a year off before enrolling- ask the admissions people at the schools you are aplying to- but you don't _have_ to do it now. I took a total of two years off during my college tenure to live in Galcier National Park in the Rocky Mountains. Do it at strategic times in your academic career- after you finish a "block" of classes that are required for your major, for example.
Implied in the above advice I've given is that you should _live_ in a few different places for a short while- not just travel there. It will make all the difference in your life- and it might even lead to some unexpected "connections" when you start to look for a job.
Good luck, my friend.
Or really any degree that shows you can write/communicate well. It might be a good idea to minor in something like that if you can't swing the double major. The biggest fear that most employers have when looking at candidates for positions in IT is ending up with a "Nick Burns - Your Company's Computer Guy" (from Saturday Night Live) sort of character. You can argue as to whether that fear has any basis in fact; but I digress. No one wants to bring someone on staff that makes the workplace more unpleasant for everyone else. Oh, by the way- YOU'RE WELCOME!!!!!!!
With M$ tethered to the viciously unpopular offshoring issue, this move just makes sense; "How can you justify giving taxpayer dollars to companies that are hell-bent on shipping your constituent's jobs overseas?". They should have been asking this question a _long_ time ago.
I think it's just inevitable that some politician at some point was going to wake up and get a clue... This is a huge industry that is screaming for a safe-haven somewhere. I really wish this Penguin Park could have gone somewhere that really needed it, like my rust-belt hometown of Youngstown, Ohio; but kudos to the Oregon governor for opening his eyes to the situation.
"You are wasteful and expensive." Bull. Don't get indignant just because we come from a country with decent labor standards. Those standards weren't developed overnight; There were Americans that _died_..._died_ my friend, so that we could enjoy a decent life for a decent day's work. There are and always have been people posessed by inhuman greed that stand to benefit by undermining and circumventing those standards that Americans died for; The Robber Barons never really went away- they've always been out there waiting to take advantage of something like the situation that we have now. They are getting rich by exporting the economy that _our_ fathers built for us and importing _your_ labor standards. No one here hates you; get over it. It's impossible for you to understand the situation we're in because _your_ fathers never stood up to these greedy bastards and _sacrificed their lives_ the way that ours did. I know a lot of Americans proceed with the belief that our way of life is an entitlement, but the truth of the matter is that we _fought_ for it every step of the way with democracy, a brotherhood of workers, and our lives when the Robbers Barons bought troops from our own government to kill us for having the gall to stand up and demand fair treatment. Dismissing the things that our people died for with smug comments like "Dude, did I take your job?" isn't helping anyone. And yes, I probably would get angry and maybe even verbally abusive if I heard someone who was trying to undermine what the people in my country fought for like that; no matter what color their skin was. No one hates you; you have to realize that to both Americans workers and American Robber Barons you represent a leap back in time that most people don't want to make. We already shed our blood for our way of life. When you stand up to these people the way that we did, then we will have no qualms about trading with you sans restrictions. In the meantime, don't try to make me feel guilty because my grandfather got attacked for wanting fair treatment for his coworkers in the mill.