When and how to take a year off?

I'm finishing my Associate program at a tech UMM/MF and going to H/S in the fall. I want to take a year off before going back to investing but I don't know how. I want to go to school, I want to do two consecutive years to have the collective experience with my cohort, and then I want to go back to investing after school. I would be willing to be flexible in what investing role I end up whether that's back to PE (even flexible to MM/LMM), or top tier VC/GE.

How do I find a year off? I think my best bet is after school but I'm not sure how to swing that with job recruiting. I would be willing to work at my own pace on projects for startups to stay "in the game" of usefulness. Thoughts?

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