I Am Lost

[Asphyxia]

I dont know what to do anymore. My mother is trying to make me go to University to be something i dont want to be. For the past year or so i've made it a clear choice and direction to get into the field of Graphic Design and i've had the best marks in Art related courses throughout high school. Ultimately its something i enjoy more than anything else. However, to my mom, everything and i mean everything seems to be about the MONEY and not what you truly enjoy. After telling her i want to persue Graphic Design, she basically snapped at me saying ill never find a real job and its a dead end street and that making $100,000 a year and more is completely NECESSARY in order to GET BY. I just cant believe the things she says, and i certainly do not believe that. Besides, Graphic design is something you grow in, it may take a few years to start making real money, but who cares, im not poor i can take my time, besides its something i enjoy!. I dont know, shes making me have second thoughts at the same time. Not because of the money really, but i've always had a vision of doing something that would make a legacy of me after im gone. I dont know what this would be; a big band, writing a famous book, becoming a leader in some post apocolyptic society! lol ok, thats a little random and unlikely, nevermind. haha.

 

thing is, the other things im even only mildy interested in are philosophy, political philosophy and psychology. I cant imagine these fields giving me a better future. I would think id end up resorting to teaching, i dont know .

 

I have to convince my mom to at least not be mad about my career choice

I havent been able to find the answers i really need. I want to know if you can apply for one thing in your first year and then switch what your majoring in later..

i need some advice anyway, because im not too sure, im hoping someone whose gone to University here can help ?

[Reluctant Rebuilder]

You can transfer credits between majors, no problem. Plus it will be a requirement that you take credits from other disciplines in order to fill your degree requirements (thus making you a well rounded academic). Usually it breaks down something like having to take a little bit of science, a little bit of humanities, a lot from your major, and there is usually some free do-as-you-will- credits to make up the 90 or 120 credit hours to finish.

 

At least that was how it was for my degree.

[Reluctant Rebuilder]

Oh yeah, and if you get your PhD in psychology, say hello to a ton of cash, especially if you are in clinical.

[Crazyaboutdogs]

While it is always prudent to make sure you are going into a field that will give you a decent living, money isn't everything. You are at a job 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. If you don't enjoy what you do, getting up in the morning to go to work will be hell. Most people don't earn anywhere near $100,000 and still lead productive, happy lives. Even people earning $100,000 can be in debt up to their eyeballs. Do what makes you happy because it is your life, not your mother's. Don't live her dreams, live your own.

[BYOB]

I think that you just need someone to support your goals. Your mother really seem to mind about your future but in my opinion, not in the right way. I hear artists say "my parents never supported me until that I was successful" and that I think you should consider it.

 

With the support you need, you can get a job you will appreciate and that's something crucial especially for people who think that money can't buy everything. Otherwise, the interest in the jobs of those people is to be rich. Some can though it but many don't.

 

My final advice is: please build up your future and not your parent's dreams.

[CharLit]

Dear Asphyxia,

 

Are you merely looking for your mother's acceptance, or will she refuse to help finance your education in a subject she doesn't approve of?

 

If it is the former, while I can understand her acceptance is important to you, it is not essential to you pursueing your chosen path. You could try concvincing her (and yourself) with the argument that people spend most of their waking adult life working. Does she really want you to spend most of your life doing something you don't enjoy?

 

Secondly, why on earth does she think it's a dead end street? Who does she think designs advertisements, posters, magazine layouts, website design etc. etc.? It's a huge industry, if money is what she cares about, show her this article: link removed

 

As for your own dreams of leaving a legacy, well, most of the things you mentioned are not going to pay the bills initially. Why not do a university course you enjoy, leading to a job you enjoy, and you can then spend your free time working on your book/band/world domination. Of course, once you've been published/contracted and hailed as the best writer/musician of the millennium, you can stop working in graphic design and focus all your energy on your writing/music/leadership Anyone who wants to make a living in the arts needs a back-up plan, and it sounds like your lucky enough to have a backup plan you'd actually enjoy.

 

Then, speaking as someone who has followed their heart:

 

- academic achievement: personally, I would never have been able to do well academically at a subject I didn't enjoy. So I did what I loved, and aced everything.

 

- Work & money: I've studied what I loved, and now have a job doing what I love. It will never make me rich, but i'm perfectly comfortable financially, and far more importantly, I'm happy to go to work every morning. I've had part-time jobs while studying that I hated, and even when I was just working jobs I didn't enjoy for the summer holidays it almost killed my spirit. I'd dread going into the office every day, and I'd go home dreading having to go again the next day. I will be working for the next 40 years of my life. If I knew I had to spend them doing something that didn't make me happy I'd be tempted to jump off the nearest bridge, now.

 

- parents: especially my mother does not really understand my academic & career choices, but has always supported me in them because she wants to see me happy. I hope you can bring your mother round to this perspective!

 

Follow your heart & best of luck!!!!

 

C

[LilyXX]

Asphyxia,

 

Graphic design is a legitimate career and you can get a real job doing it. I have been working as a designer for the past 3 years. The job is not all fun and games, but you do get to be creative, the money is not great, just like a lot of other careers. I also have clients and do some work on the side to make extra income. I feel that it is a good career choice for me. You may be happy doing it too.

[LilyXX]

Don't get to idealistic about graphic design. This is a mistake many young artists make. Frequently you would have to do what the clients asks even when you don't agree with their ideas. Some of the work can be really boring expessially when you are first starting out. It can be difficult to live on 35K especially if you are single. Many of the jobs are dead end with little opportunity for advancement. Now I am looking to to advance my career and increase my income by getting into business writing & marketing. I am aiming to be a marketing manager. Whatever you decide, don't be influenced by your mother too much, make your own choices.

 

Best of luck.

[Baby Carrot]

Hey there, guess what I majored in. GD.

 

And heck I enjoy doing it. There´s room to be creative, funky, is fun, you can do it while listening to loud music or watching TV.

 

Here´s the but. It takes a lot of time and effort to really be able to live from it. Cuz, the thruth is, not many people take it seriously. Just look around, crappy "designs" if you can call them that everywhere. People are not willing to pay let´s say, 200 USD for a logo when the 15 year old neighbour can manage to fix some crap using Word Art and stolen images from the net for free, ya know what I mean.

 

Probably she's been snapping because of your careless attitude. As in:

 

...Ultimately its something i enjoy more than anything else...

...what you truly enjoy....

...but who cares, im not poor i can take my time, besides its something i enjoy!...

 

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy...enjoy. Girl just wanna enjoy apparently. Realize there´s more to graphic design than joy. See, GD is not like sex, pure fun and pleasure.

 

i've always had a vision of doing something that would make a legacy of me after im gone.

Hard to do that when your main priority is to... enjoy? And then... who cares, you can take your time because you´re not poor? I think you need to be a little bit more responsible than this. It takes effort and sacrifice to make a legacy.

 

Sounds like you just wanna be a rockstar with all the benefits without really paying the price. That´s not possible in most cases. Get real. Is not about your mom not getting mad about your choices, is about YOU getting yourself together and deciding if what you want to do is something that is really gonna help you get thru in life, and not only something you´ve chosen out of hedonism.

 

Unless or course, you are a heiress loaded with big bucks and no finantial concerns whatsoever, then you can keep taking it lightly.

[Baby Carrot]

The job is not all fun and games,

the money is not great

Frequently you would have to do what the clients asks even when you don't agree with their ideas.

Many of the jobs are dead end with little opportunity for advancement.

 

Ohhhhhhh YEAH. Don´t I know this. Please, listen carefully to Wildly...

 

Now I am looking to to advance my career and increase my income by getting into business writing & marketing. I am aiming to be a marketing manager.

Yeah, you gotta know how to other things as well. Being bilingual, studies on marketing and advertising, basic knowledge on video editing, writing, drawing cartoons... You may wanna have a back up for all those times that no matter how fun it is to create your little designs, you´re just not making money out of it. Diversify, diversify, diversify.

[LilyXX]

Baby Carrot,

 

How long have you been working in the industry?

Do you have a website? Where did you go to school?

 

I work for a company that produces direct mail magazines. I went to Seneca College in Toronto, Canada.

I do some freelance too. My website is link removed.

It was designed when I first got out of school. My portfolio is much more diverse now and I am planning to redesign, I just find that i am always busy working on projects for clients or doing other things.