Considering Taking a Leave of Absence in 2024

• Somehow, I’m starting to feel like there’s not much reason not to take a leave of absence to do whatever I want.

  • I can’t think of any downsides to delaying graduation for a year and placing the dots in weird places in terms of “connecting the dots” meaning.

• What to do?

• First, let’s list the possibilities:

  • Work as a Software Engineer
    • Like at Helpfeel
    • Hmm… (blu3mo)
  • Work as a Design Engineer
    • Like at Takram
  • Do research
    • For example, taking a year off to work in a Japanese research lab, is that possible?
    • Somehow, if I were to do this, I feel like I should just quickly graduate from university and go to graduate school (blu3mo).
    • Intern at a private company doing research?
      • Like at Sony CSL, Omron SINIC X
  • Start a business
    • Like with the MITOU Advanced program
    • Ultimately, if I want to do research, is there a way to do it in a way that connects to that context?
      • Compared to the reverse order (doing research, producing results, then commercializing it), even if I try to start a business with what I currently have, it seems kind of pointless.
  • Travel Japan
    • Is it possible to do this while doing something else?
  • Travel the world
    • Hmm, I’m not very motivated by traveling just for the sake of it.
      • Enjoying the serendipity that comes passively, I felt satisfied for now with Europe Trip Spring 2023.
      • Going with knowledge of the language and context, or meeting someone, or going with some purpose or a new perspective is motivating.
        • But, a year seems unnecessary.
      • Watching people traveling in Central Asia sparks my interest, but I probably don’t have the ability to find it as interesting as they do.
        • If I don’t even know the basics of the language, I might just end up thinking “that’s different” when seeing something different.
      • Instead of traveling for a year, there might even be more stimulation in just doing research or studying what I want to do.
        • There might even be a desire to deliberately seek a life without stimulation.
      • I remember reading something like that in a note by 辺境.
        • The story of going to Antarctica
        • If I go to Antarctica, I will be satisfied with the trip | Frontier
  • Live in another country
    • Are there countries where you can live casually without a student visa or job?
      • Maybe find a job as a sushi chef? (??)
  • Practice
    • Buddhism
  • Do nothing
    • This is also an option (blu3mo).
    • At least not deciding to do something for a year.
  • Go mountain climbing or engage in outdoor activities
    • Possible
    • Mountain climbing

• Thoughts

  • I’m thinking that it might not make much sense to preemptively do things that I’m likely to do after graduating from university.
    • Software Engineering is a prime example.
      • There isn’t much motivation to do it for reasons other than making money.
    • This also applies to research, for example.
  • It’s a problem awareness close to Even if You Only Do HCI Research Expanding Technologies Already Implemented for Consumers, It Seems That You Will Not Reach Your Goal.
    • The narrowness of what I can currently do/see.
    • It seems better to expand this in a unique direction for specialization and differentiation, a strategic motivation.
      • It’s not just about doing something unique, so I want to think about what I seek through “differentiation.”
    • Curiosity about how life could be more interesting if expanded in a unique direction.
  • I just want to raise money in a normal way.