Lessons From My Accidental Gap Year

By education and experience, I am an aerospace engineer — I can prove it with two degrees and four years of experience.

Right now? I’m currently finishing up a certificate program to become a user experience designer.

I left my engineering career back in February without a clue of what I wanted to do otherwise. In the time since then, I’ve traveled throughout Central America, earned a professional scuba diving certification, designed and authored my own travel blog, and started that UX program. I’ve sustained myself financially off of my savings and some rental income (from the world’s best renters, I might add).

By the time I finish my course, my timeline will likely bring me to about a year from when I left my job. This will end up being, as I like to call it, an ‘accidental gap year’.

In the past year, I have also spent a considerable amount of time getting real with myself. Everything has come under the microscope, ranging from my hobbies to my values, my health to my relationships. Are they all contributing to a fulfilling life, or are some things unhealthy to my well-being?

What have I learned over the past year? A lot that I wouldn’t have, had I stayed at my desk. I recently listed many of these lessons out, and each has its own story.

My plan is to tell these stories, to share them with whoever is interested. The following posts will be dedicated to these stories, many of which I hope will lead to further discussions. If they can help a single person move themselves to a better place, then I will have succeeded. Stay tuned.