Ask HN: how to spend your (early) 20s?

I'm on the earlier side of the spectrum turning 20 last January. Currently, I'm sitting on my couch writing this while doing research on a "big" startup idea I have, but during the school year, I attend Georgetown. Over the summer, I'll be at Oxford taking a few classes and traveling around Europe a little. After school, I'm really undecided on what I will do. I would much rather prefer to start my own venture, but the $$$ and relative safety of big corporations are big incentives to defect. I'm really glad I have another 2 years to figure it out.

What are you currently/hoping to do?

I am a self taught programmer with a BA in Political Science who works as a pseudo-project/product manager.

When I graduated on 2007, I worked at a major medical software company. In 2010 I joined a more traditional software startup (not the Silicon Valley startups like you see here). I think this was a good path for me. I've certainly learned a lot at both companies, although the startup is much more rewarding.

Regarding graduate school, I'm not interested in paying to learn what I've already learned through experience. When I get to graduate school I'd rather study new stuff (not just learn object-oriented design...ugh).

I would say any of those sound fine. The one thing I wish I had done was not spend more than 3 or so years in any one location or job in my early-mid 20s.

Travel. You'll be able to get away with doing it more cheaply than at any other time in your life.

I just started a job at a large company where the job security is excellent. But I don't want job security right now, I want to do something exciting and real. I just wish I was brave enough to dive in.

Explore.

Explore jobs. Explore places. Explore hobbies.

I personally think that unless you've had this totally overwhelming idea about a company for several years you shouldn't try to start a company at this stage. If anything, work a couple of years at a larger or established company. Get a feel for how things are done, so that when you do go off on your own, you have some better idea of what the "finished product" is supposed (or not supposed) to operate like.

Travel. Buy a ticket someplace and just go be there for a while. Work, write, hang out, whatever, just do it.

Have relationships, probably none too serious, but enough to see how your personality fits with other types. Try your hand as a pick up artist (really, you can learn a lot from this).

Basically, spend your early 20's really looking at the world and figuring out what/who you want to be when you grow up.

I'm about to turn 30 years very shortly here, so this is from my perspective. Years ago, after college, I spent most of my traveling around various places in the world across all of the continents, trying my hand at a few businesses, some which worked and some which some failed miserably, and chasing women. I think if you travel, chase money, and chase women, all in equal balance with none at the expenses of the other, you will most likely not have any regrets ten years from now unless you get a girl pregnant, then all bets are off. As you progress in age, you may learn to make the mix more efficient by realizations such as "if you are successful chasing money, you spend much less time chasing women, as they then chase you". Money and women have been sought after by men for thousands of years, and while today's modern intellectual man may find it simplistic and barbaric, there is nothing wrong with satiating your appetite for what you were naturally programmed to do, be an animal. You can learn a lot from rappers, they have the basic idea figured out. Knock the top few layers off Maslow's hierarchy of needs and you have a higher likelihood of being happy. Just my humble opinion.

I'm in my early 40's now, so here's my take: Follow your passion (I quit College to develop software), do the things that interest you without overspecializing (I did low level device drivers, database systems, consulting, games), and don't stay too long at any given job. (Never more than two years)

Do something crazy occasionally. (I emigrated to the US, from Germany - and I spent all my vacation time working on cruise ships)

By your early thirties, you'll have had a lot of fun, and a decent idea what you like. (Although that changes occasionally - did games for 15 years, working on the Internet side of things now. No more games, got over it)

Above all, have fun. If things go wrong in your 20's, a reboot is not a big deal. As you start accumulating the things that go with age (a family, a higher salary, a mortgage, etc.) a restart is more terrifying and probably harder.

I have worked my arse off in my 20's. 10 hour workdays on average, and when I left my first employer, after 9.5 years, I got paid out 260 unused leave days (we had time-off-in-lieu for weekends).

On the plus side: this set me up financially for the rest of my life; I developed high skills and a good reputation; and the work was interesting in itself.

On the minus side: I lost touch with most of my school/university friends; had trouble maintaining relationships with girls.

Funny thing is: I am not sure whether I'd do it all again, or not... so I don't know what to recommend... sorry.

I just graduated from College and have been connected to the matrix (aka corporate america) for the past year. I can say that working and having a stable job will definitely tell you if you want to do your own thing. I discovered quickly that I am way to motivated to stay in a 8 to 5 job and that I want to do my own thing or join a supportive corporation.

I would recommend doing some corporate gig if you are unsure about starting your own company, but realize that it is very hard to cut the pay check. It is difficult to leave a stable well paying job.

I am pretty firmly in the camp of entrepreneurship and it is still difficult for me to remove myself from the matrix.

Whatever else you do, keep a journal. Cheap notebooks with a decent pen work well, but OhLife (YC S10) is pretty great. Keeping a public blog is not the same thing. Consistency is unimportant, but the habit is vital. "Keeping a journal" is something you can still be doing even if you haven't actually written much in it in weeks. A sentence here, a sentence there. It adds up.

18-23

Did the traditional college route. (Stanford)

This was great for me because I needed the resources to pursue a gymnastics career. It also exposed me to lots of interesting people and ideas. I had the opportunity to initiate projects and start things. Stuck around for a masters after my undergrad (both in biology) and to use my last year of athletic eligibility.

23

Ran the business operations of my college newspaper.

It was a paid full-time job where I got to manage adult and student staff and report to a board of directors. Great experience running a small business with real revenues and expenses (had to cut expenses massively while reorienting the sales side to stop the revenue decline). Let me know I wanted to be an entrepreneur.

24

Worked in sales and marketing at an ad tech startup. (isocket)

Also great experience - gave me handson skills, saw how a b2b startup launches and starts to get traction. Built my network. Started blogging. Worked my butt off.

25 Started my own startup. Got together with some good friends who were in startups working as developers. We decided to take the leap and start something. We're targeting a big market and the odds of success are slim but we're hopeful and hungry. =)

Hard to say what I'd do differently. Wish I had done more personal projects and less student groups in college. Wish I had learned how to code. Wish I had started blogging earlier. Wish I had traveled outside the country more (the startup will keep me busy). But since I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out so far, can't really call those strong regrets by any means...

You're asking the right questions - keep thinking about this stuff ... and if you have an inkling of a good idea, DO something abou it, even if it's just to send an email or write a post about it. You never know where it will lead...

Recently turned 26. I spent a bit too long in university switching degrees and all, starting in economics but eventually graduated in electrical engineering. I got a job right out of school working for a large engineering construction company. Quickly realized that wasn't for me, but stayed on for 2 years for the paycheck. Married the girl of my dreams, quit my job, and moved to Guatemala to study spanish for a few months. I'm writing this the night before I head back to the US. In a month I'm moving to the San Francisco, and we'll see what happens from there.

Seems like there is no right or wrong way to go. I'd say just make sure you're happy and always challenging yourself.

A pg essay on the subject is fitting: http://paulgraham.com/hs.html

I’m currently 24, finally about to graduate after 7 years at university.

Did freelancing and contract work when I was 19, then I joined a large company at 20 where I worked full-time for nearly three years (I really just wanted an escape from university where I was questioning why I was there when I cared little about my major and seemed to bell well-off without a degree). After that I did PR work for a gaming startup for a few months.

Looking back, I wouldn’t have changed a lot of what I did other than hustling more towards my degree and other side projects when I took on the full-time gig. I was so burned-out from that one job that I just spent the rest of my time playing video games and taking one course per term. I became too complacent and didn’t explore all my possibilities when I had great freedom to do so.

So, whatever you do, just don’t do only that. Go for a breadth of experience; travel while doing freelancing, join a large company while doing a startup on the side, etc.

About 15 years ago I worked with a 24 YO man who had married his high school sweetheart and they had 3 kids. Some guys would tease him that he missed out on so many things.

One day he said that these guys had it wrong, because when he is in his mid 40's, his house will be paid for and his kids will be in college.

Not a bad plan if you can pull it off.

I hope he did/will.