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    A possible career change?

    So, I've had this thing that's been bugging me for ages, and I can't really figure it out.

    I've been working in geology for a few years now (after having been put on academic probation and never finishing my degree) ...and I really want to go back to school in the next year or so. I miss school. Except...I can't decide if I want to go back for geology.

    What I've really been mulling over, is going back and doing a fine arts degree. You know, to improve my painting, and drawing, and photography skills. I've found a few schools that are really awesome, in a city that I've always wanted to live in, but I'm pretty practical, and I am having trouble justifying going to school for three years, spending $20,000 ...to improve a hobby.

    If I could make money at painting and photography, I'd be pretty happy, but at best it would be as a side job. I guess I'm just looking for opinions here: is it worth it to go back to quit my well paying full-time job, go back to school for fine arts (for three years, as a broke student again)...and then what? Maybe finally finish my geology degree, or just go back to work, or something. I have no idea.

    At best, this is a bit of a near-distant future thing, because I've got some immediate plans which hinder doing this in the next year, but I just can't decide if it's even worth trying to apply, gathering a portfolio, etc.


    Mostly art.

    #2
    Re: A possible career change?

    Volcaniclastic, it really depends on where you feel you are in your life at this moment.

    If you are ready to settle down, then you should probobly go for a paying career first, and the arts in your spare time.

    If you don't intend to settle down for about 5-10 years (if ever, but be realistic - things can change as you get older), you got time to play starving artist. You can finish out your degree later, when you are hungry enough.

    Most "professional" artists actually make their living by doing something else, which allows them steady income, and spare time for their REAL work. Teaching is pretty popular with artists and writers.

    In my own situation, I, personally, would have (if I could go back and do it over) picked a career, and done art on the side. It's how I ended up anyway, so it would have saved time if I had gone that route first. But then, on the other hand, one never really knows what would have happened if one had picked "the other road."
    Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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      #3
      Re: A possible career change?

      I guess it depends. I actually don't regret having studied fine arts (I did one year of a bachelor in writing and a 2 year associates in jazz vocal). When I started studying business admin, I was like 'wow I spent 3 years studying stuff that has no use to me' but now I've realized a few things. A) I enjoyed my time studying both subjects, but especially music, and that in itself is valuable, B) I did learn many interesting things, which is also valuable, C) I'm still drawn to more creative business, entrepreneurial endeavors and work in the arts industries, and most importantly D) my arts qualifications set me apart...lots of people have business and marketing degrees, and lots of people want to work in creative industries, but having the qualifications and experience in writing and music give an added dimension to my resume. Even NON-creative businesses want creative people these days, provided you have more practical experiences to go with it.

      So, it depends on what you want to do. There are lots of jobs that involve creativity that are not necessarily directly being an artist. If you're interested in anything like that, you might find that a fine arts degree can help you and add to the experiences you already have.

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        #4
        Re: A possible career change?

        I have to overall agree with B. But...my perspective comes from being a parent and having responsibility to someone other than myself. There are ways to do arts without studying them formally in school as a degree program. If your interests are photography, for example, you could look at your local community college or even a four-year institution and take classes as you are able (some schools have intensive courses where you take one class over a few weeks, or you can audit classes, or take them without being in a degree program), or you could informally take classes at a camera shop or join a photography group or find a mentor (call photography shops and see if you can hang out in your off time--I'm guessing you are still working your wacky so many weeks on, so many off schedule?). I have a very good friend that does art photography as a hobby and has a day job as a dietitian. Her masters degree is in nutrition science, and she took a grand total of one photography class in college since an art class was a gen ed requirement...and then she joined a local photography club and took some community classes in photoshop.



        No matter what choice you make, you are going to have the "what if"...but we are lucky enough to live in a time and place where life is usually long and relatively healthy and well-to do...its not like you can't have a career to pay for your hobby now, and make the hobby a second career later. And...in my experience, experience (as in practice) is often the better teacher than formal education (and there are ways to get education without college).
        Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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          #5
          Re: A possible career change?

          I'd also like to add to my post that even though I only did one year of writing, having that year made almost as much difference (for what I do anyway....I'm not asking to be a staff writer at a newspaper) as if I would have finished the degree. I think in my case, it DID matter that I did the program at a formal institution....it still makes a difference when I send in pieces for blogging or apply for proofreading contracts (both things which I keep up on the side because I may be self-employed once again in the future and those things boosted my income a bit in the past)...and it makes a difference when I apply for marketing jobs, BIG TIME. It's just a bit more credible than if I had -just- done blogging, y'know? And because it was at UVic, a formal institution, for more traditional employment purposes it sets me apart from the gajillions of other 'creatives' in Berlin.

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            #6
            Re: A possible career change?

            There are some colleges that will let you take courses for a discounted amount of you're not taking them for credits. Would that appeal to you? You would still learn, but not get the degree. Like Thalassa mentioned, there are community colleges that will offer less expensive classes as well.
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              #7
              Re: A possible career change?

              I'm just going to take a stab here, but I'm guessing she's interested in doing a degree in the UK (because she mentioned a 3-year degree) and they don't really do community college there.

              If she's talking about Canada, they do, but community college isn't really something people do on the side there...it's still set up to take a full program for some sort of qualification.

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                #8
                Re: A possible career change?

                Hey! I am going back to school this semester, and altered my degree when I went to sign up. Im going back for English with a concentration in creative writing, and minors in linguistics and Japanese. Initially, the way i had my degree set up, I wasn't really sure how I could justify continuing school as expensive as it was, because I had no clue what to do with it. I altered things a little bit so that I could still do what I wanted but I had a few options. That would be my suggestion to you. If you want to go back for art, do it, but don't go back without educating yourself. Look at what you want to do, look at what you could do with your degree, and then see if the uni you want to go to will allow you to do that. Then you wouldn't have to worry about justifying going back for a hobby, because you'd know there were viable career options. Does that make sense?
                It's a really, really cool thing, to be able to show people that you can be yourself, and you should be proud of yourself, and you should own who you are and what you're about, and never make apologies for it.
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                  #9
                  Re: A possible career change?

                  Originally posted by kijani View Post
                  Hey! I am going back to school this semester, and altered my degree when I went to sign up. Im going back for English with a concentration in creative writing, and minors in linguistics and Japanese. Initially, the way i had my degree set up, I wasn't really sure how I could justify continuing school as expensive as it was, because I had no clue what to do with it. I altered things a little bit so that I could still do what I wanted but I had a few options. That would be my suggestion to you. If you want to go back for art, do it, but don't go back without educating yourself. Look at what you want to do, look at what you could do with your degree, and then see if the uni you want to go to will allow you to do that. Then you wouldn't have to worry about justifying going back for a hobby, because you'd know there were viable career options. Does that make sense?
                  Super sensible.....maybe you could go for art and also digital art/graphics/web design?

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