u/AGuyInHisBestYears

Long story short, I'd like to do a 2-3 year long master's in Buddhist Studies abroad in Chinese, tuition-free, scholarship available. It's technically a continuation of one of my bachelor's degrees which is in History of Religions, but the field I've been working in has been IT and digital transformation (but no coding) as my second bachelor's degree is in informatics. I'll have a few years of work experience in that under my belt if I decide to embark on this journey. I've also done things related to NGOs and project coordination in the past before any of my degrees.

I have no inclination of doing a PhD and would just want to do this master to expand my knowledge and better my language skills. I think my main worry is that it'll be seen by future employers as something negative (career gap?), e.g. making it hard for me to return to my previous field in IT or something similar. That's why I'm asking this to get a reality check.

Anyone that has any advice or has done anything similar? If it matters, I'm in Europe.

For reasons this I what I might have to make do with. If I sleep in a fetal position maybe? The issue is also that it's in a frame so not open-ended. While I can accept some harsher conditions for a while I'm afraid it'll be bad for my body and sleep after 3 years. I can probably get out and sleep somewhere else 3-4 months per year though.

Long story short. I'm in my early 30s, I have a huge, vested interest in Buddhism and Chinese, and am looking at doing a 2-3 year Buddhist Studies master abroad in a few years, which involves study and religious practice. I also have a degree and career in digital transformation, IT and business systems analysis of which I have 2 years work experience in. I've currently been away abroad working on my Chinese for 1 year already, but have been on study leave during that period, which means I'll go right back into my earlier role.

I've always tried balancing my own personal goals and aspirations with trying to remain employable. Ideally I'd like to be able to do these kinds of career breaks every once in a while, and still hopefully find a job again once I get back. How realistic is this? Is there anyone here that has done this kind of jumping in and out of their career in order to travel, contemplate life or whatever else? How has it worked out?

I think my main worry is just long-term employability, as I'm not upskilling and am afraid of making my earlier work experience outdated. I don't necessarily need to rise up in the ranks, just find a job again.

Funderar på att gå tillbaka och plugga en master efter ett tag i arbetslivet, gärna utomlands. Ser arbetsgivare generellt positivt på examen tagna utomlands, eller i alla fall inte negativt? Min spontana känsla är att svenska arbetsgivare inte heller bryr sig så mycket om universitetsranking. Det kommer inte vara något exklusivt universitet som alla känner igen, ex. Harvard eller Oxford.

I'm currently debating on coming back to Taiwan to study a Master, but only if I receive the MoE scholarship (tuition free + 20k TWD a month). Originally I'm from Sweden where our education is tuition free per default, and our universities are in general more highly-ranked in the world rankings. This withstanding, would you recommend doing a masters in Taiwan at some of the more reputable universities like NTU, NSYSU, NCKU? I'm more drawn to the south.. Program-wise, I'm leaning towards a Master related to information systems/informatics/data science or similar, even though the "fun choice" for me would be in the humanities or at least towards Asian Studies somehow.

I'm somewhat proficient in Chinese and would be open to finding a job in Taiwan (or East Asia in general) after my studies, and doing a master's here would probably make it easier to find a job? I already have some post-graduation work experience.

The main reasons why I'd like to do a Master's here is because I like Taiwan and I'd like to improve my Chinese even further even though I'm at a solid point today.

Also another question, do most complete their Master in 2 years? I find it weird that all universities mention you need to finish it within 4 years, which makes it seem that Taiwan masters are longer in general.

I'm thinking about stuff that trends towards Jared Henderson or The Daily Stoic but with my own unique twist based on my interests, life and previous studies. A bit niche but still adapted for the general public. A big part of it is just for fun, but I aim to go into it fully dedicated, run it like a business and also use other channels to draw in visitors and in the future build up a revenue stream that doesn't rely on YouTube monetization. I plan to use my face and voice.

Do you think this is a niche worth pursuing over a longer period of time, like a couple of years?