A few weeks ago I flew in an airplane (my brother and I went to see our parents) and the airplane did not crash, which was a fresh relief in light of the recent scary stories about the gutting of the FAA. I know it’s safer to fly than drive, blah blah blah, but what gave me actual comfort was the stories of airports briefly closing because the people there felt it was not safe to direct air traffic. It made it seem as if the people in charge might not just be shrugging and saying “What can we do? We don’t have the necessary staff but we have to keep flying planes anyway or we’ll lose money!”
We flew Delta, and they pissed me off yet again, by changing the flight schedule literally the day after we booked the flights, to something I would not have booked if it had been that way to begin with. It was fine, it was fine, but it added roughly four hours of waiting-in-airports time, and two of those hours were because my last flight landed 15 minutes before the bus for home departed (instead of landing, perfectly, 45 minutes before the bus departed, as originally scheduled), and I had to wait two hours for the next bus because now we were on the Evening Schedule with buses spaced further apart. That was frustrating, to be so close to home and yet still be sitting in an airport. But it was fine. I played my little phone games.
For Henry’s birthday, I tried to avoid shopping at Amazon or Target. I shopped two weeks in advance, because I know I have gotten accustomed to 2-day and 3-day shipping and that smaller places can’t do that. I braced myself for things to cost more, and they did indeed cost more. I ordered things that were scheduled to arrive in time for the birthday. None of them are in fact arriving in time for the birthday. I am finding this very frustrating. I shopped small! I supported the little guy! I spent more time and money! Shouldn’t I have earned Good Shopping Karma for this? Why am I instead being punished.
Elizabeth and I had Her Big College Talk. The gist is that she feels that Illustration is not the right major for her. It’s difficult, because she is not only good at it but better at it than many of her peers, and it would be worth a shot at being one of the few who ends up working in the field. But she has picked up from her professors and peers that the life of someone successfully working in illustration is a life of hustle and self-promotion and self-bossing. Her fellow art students are excited about this: being their own boss! working on their own terms! But it fills Elizabeth with dread. She wants to work regular hours, and have a boss and health benefits. She had thought Illustration would put her in the position to be doing art the way she wants to do art, which is filling someone else’s request; she had not realized she would not be able to do that work in an office with a regular paycheck.
Possibly you are about to tell us about digital/graphic artists, or people who work in marketing. This has also been addressed and discussed: she doesn’t like to do digital/graphic art, and she doesn’t want to work a career that is about selling a product or making money for the sake of making money. This narrows her artistic options significantly.
I was all set to encourage her to keep going with art: it’s what she likes to do, and she’s good at it, and she can’t think of anything else she wants to do. Her wavering reminded me of people who write to the baby name blog during postpartum, worried they’ve chosen the wrong name for their baby—but they don’t have another name in mind, or any particular reason to jettison the name they’ve chosen. There is a type of uncertainty that is just uncertainty, and doesn’t mean anything needs to change, and I’d thought that was what Elizabeth and I were going to be discussing. But it sounds to me like she has a more legitimate reason to consider a change: she does not feel she is suited for the type of working she would be doing—and, whether or not she’d be suited to it, she doesn’t want to do it. So then what.
One possibility is teaching. Regular hours, in some sense (I am the daughter of a teacher, so I already know about the after-hours grading/etc., but so does Elizabeth, and this falls within her definition of regular hours). Health benefits. Going IN to work, not working from home. Working for something that feels meaningful/important/community, as opposed to something designed to create money. People say things like “Oh, but teaching is so different now! / the administration! / the parents! / the lack of respect! / etc.!”—but one of my coworkers who worked in a school for years says that in her experience, newer teachers don’t struggle with this the way older teachers do, because newer teachers come into it as it is, rather than comparing it to how it used to be.
People also say it is hard to find art-teacher jobs, and that they don’t pay well, and that art is one of the departments a lot of schools are cutting—but this starts to make me wonder what ANYONE is supposed to major in, if it has to be something that results in a high-paying, easily-findable job we will always need. I was a business major, and I know about supply and demand, and that is not how it works: if there even EXISTS a job that is high-paying and easy to get, it will not stay that way. I suppose “low-paying and hard to get” is not ideal, either, but teaching falls within my own understanding of a reasonable wage. It’s not what doctors and lawyers and engineers earn, but you can make a life with it. And currently most schools DO have an art teacher, and those art teachers are mortal. And if someone wants a job with meaning/importance/community elements, rather than a job that generates money, that job is going to come with a lower income.
But, after saying all that: I am not sure Elizabeth is actually interested in teaching. And also: we are having a surprising amount of trouble figuring out how it WORKS to get a teaching degree. When I was in school, both elementary ed (grades K-6) and secondary ed (grades 5-12) were 4-year bachelor’s degrees, but when I look online at various schools, I’m seeing confusing offerings of some 4-year and some 5-year degrees, some bachelor’s and some master’s, and I’m surprised at how difficult it is to figure out what is what. Also, one school mentioned that all their teaching degrees are nationally accredited, and claimed that only 30% of the teaching degrees at U.S. colleges are nationally accredited—so maybe the degrees at my college were inferior in some way, and that’s why they were only 4-year bachelor’s degrees (…though, my classmates went on to get teaching jobs). I’m also puzzled by the way a particular school will offer, for example, secondary ed degrees in history, math, music, and English, but not in science or French/Spanish or art. Elizabeth and I spent an hour or two on our computers, both working on the question “HOW DO I GET A TEACHING DEGREE IN ART?,” and we were not able to get an answer to that question before giving up in frustration.
Anyway, we are not sure what her next step will be. She might continue in Illustration for now—though, she’s at the halfway point, so she is reluctant to continue with a path that feels Wrong. She might take a semester or a year off—though she finds she strongly dislikes this idea. She might take a class or two in education and see what she thinks. It’s very hard to know what is the right thing to do. Her main summer project is Trying To Figure This Out. We have been trying out aptitude/career tests online, and mine say I should be a library assistant or a pharmacy technician, but that’s because I gravitate to what I already know I can do; Elizabeth’s results lean toward engineering/science/analyst jobs, because that’s what she wishes she wanted to do.
This is not really an answer, but I just made a presentation at my job (which is the kind of job there there is no “right” degree for), and in the middle of the presentation was a cartoon I drew because I like drawing cartoons and am ok at it and read somewhere where doing that kind of thing is a good way to make presentations memorable. And so – maybe Elizabeth’s future is to be the artistically talented person in a job that does not require artistic talent but art does actually make most things better. And Elizabeth clearly is artistically talented ON TOP of a large collection of other skills that are associated with general competence.
There is also someone who does my same job who was a film major. He talks about how he doesn’t make films, but learning to make films taught him how to tell compelling stories, and that that is important in lots of jobs. (I was just in a meeting with some engineers talking about how they need engineers who know how to tell the story of how they solved the problem).
If I were giving advice, it would be to game out what Elizabeth’s options are at this point for either A) a double major or B) a minor….or also maybe certificates although those are more ambiguous. And look for second majors or minors that would help her tell the whole story of who she is (maybe something that screams organized and responsible like Public Policy or Business Administration, or something that highlights computer or math skills like Data Analytics. Or whatever she has already taken a non-Illustration class in and thinks she might want to take more of that kind of class) Also maybe student jobs or internships that aren’t specifically illustration? But it sounds like she is already being very thoughtful about it, and just needs a plan to feel confident that she has job options outside of the illustration industry if that ends up not being for her.
I just saw that at the end you mentioned she gravitates towards engineering/analyst/science jobs. I think there is a whole universe of jobs out there for people who don’t want to do engineering/analysis/science, but can understand it and communicate it (and illustration is a communication tool). Everything is chaos right now, but under normal conditions – and I am not sure we should be planning to live under these conditions forever – being able to do things like write grants proposals is a very marketable skill.
This comment made me think of medical/science text illustrating. I’m in nursing school right now, and sometimes the only thing that makes a complex concept make sense is a good illustration. If she’s good at illustration, but drawn to science-y stuff, that might be a good fit.
Good luck, Elizabeth! It’s tough figuring out who/what you want to be, and there are a lot of benefits to figuring that stuff out when you’re young and have a long future in front of you. But don’t be discouraged or feel pressured by this decision. You can always shift paths later if need be–take it from me, the 50 year old nursing student, lol!
This job was actually suggested to me at one point in my life (~18 yo). I became a data analyst.
Well done, you! I hope it’s all you want it to be.
This might not be helpful if she doesn’t want to teach, but my sister and brother in law both teach music and in our state (Iowa) there are a TON of music jobs available because people aren’t getting into teaching. So even though schools are cutting the Arts, there seem to be jobs.
Also 25 years ago my friend majored in art. She decided that she needed to teach, so she went back to school for a year and got her teaching certificate/license or whatever and has been teaching art ever since. But she had already gotten her bachelors in art and graduated by the time she realized that she wanted to (or needed to) teach. So it would probably be easier if you were still in school.
Elizabeth’s school would probably be able to give her an idea on what she’d need to do.
The teaching path is pretty state specific! I can only speak to Texas, but to teach in texas you need to have a certain number of education credits, any bachelors and then pass a certification test. So a degree in illustration, plus some education credits, then pass the test. It’s actually relatively easy for a bachelor holding person (mine is in history) to do an “Alternative Teaching certification” and get hired. I imagine the art part is harder than the teaching part (again, in Texas). State education agency for the state(s) she is most likely to want to live in might be a place to start.
But what a wonderful thing it is to get to walk alongside our children as they seek their path!
Yes this is what I was going to say – that it’s very state specific so best to google for whatever state she lives in/wants to live in/goes to school in. But I always thought you got a degree in the subject you wanted to teach plus then did a double major or some addition of education credits as you describe. Then I believe in our state you need to student teach to get your license. I think some places do this as a 5 year program to allow the school year for student teaching / licensure.
swistle, you’re a great mom. i really admire how deeply you understand each of your kids and their unique selves. i know she will figure out a workable path with your help, and i hope she doesn’t lose sight of the gift of her talent, even if it doesn’t turn into a linear career path.
Oh man, I have some thoughts on this one. I have three theatre arts degrees, and I realized several years ago that I want to work in an arts-adjacent field, but I don’t really want to be a professional artist/actor. Teaching, yes! Admin for an arts-related organization, yes! Museum or library staff, yes! Full-time working actor, probably not – except in the extremely unlikely event that I consistently get enough work to support myself and not have to worry about where my next paycheck is coming from.
I am hesitant to mention that I’m currently unemployed, because I don’t want to discourage you or Elizabeth – but in fairness, I had a job until like three weeks ago and only quit because I moved. I can say that there are plenty of jobs that only require a degree, any degree, and they don’t care what subject it’s in. If she finishes her college education, that will automatically qualify her for many, many jobs that she hadn’t previously been qualified for. I’m not saying she should stay in the illustration major if that’s not what she wants to do, but even if she picks another major that turns out not to be quite the right fit, it won’t be a life-ruining mistake or a waste of tuition or anything like that. And the longer she’s in the workforce, the less her major will matter.
If it matters, the career path that ended up sticking for me was university library – but I imagine Elizabeth has already considered working in a library, given your line of work!
If you haven’t already, have you tried searching for the keywords “single-subject teaching credential”? I can only speak for California, but I think that’s generally the type of credential that art teachers have here. (I don’t have a teaching degree/credential but I did teach middle school for a year, long story.) Usually single-subject credentials are geared toward middle school and high school teachers (elementary is typically multi-subject), but I think art is one of the areas where you’d do single-subject at any grade level.
I also meant to add – I have a couple of friends who have worked as music teachers (one high school and one elementary) and both of them got BAs in music and then did a single-subject credential program after that. I think it was an extra year, or maybe two years. Again, this is California-specific, but that seemed to a pretty typical way of doing things at least around here.
I wrote a whole reply on my phone, proofread it, and then went to check to make sure the thing I was telling you to google would work and the stupid phone reloaded the page. Nevertheless, I shall persist.
1) I have a bachelor’s in Art History. I am certified to teach high school math in Massachusetts, though I have not actually done so, officially. Teaching should be fairly not that hard. The art part is the hard part. So is the figuring out a curriculum, evaluating students, implementing the curriculum. But I also have a masters in education and IMO that wasn’t useful for those things either. The masters was very feel-good, Montessori, esque. Public schools feel more like “let’s take a good, long look at the educational research and then do the opposite.” So.
Massachusetts you have to pass the tests and have a college degree. then you have to get a masters at some point (which you pay for, out of your own damn pocket….ahem…but politicians can vote themselves raises and have zero educational requirement, but I digress) but there is flexibility there. You can do it with zero educational credits, I believe.
I was contemplating a studio art major in undergrad but 1) I wasn’t that good, I just like it and 2) I absolutely did not want to be hustling to sell myself all of the time. I get it. However, it sounds like Elizabeth is that good. One down. And maybe she doesn’t have to hustle and sell her soul or herself all of the time. People design fabric patterns, as a job. Have you seen the Instagrams for Adelphi printing that do historical wallpaper???? So cool. People design greeting cards. Maybe she can convince all the businesses in her town with god-awful handwritten signs that they should just pay her to do it, actually. (Stares in the terrible Chamber of Commerce calendar in my town right now. With wrong and questionable information, but the formatting and font and entire disconnect of the look of it was making me twitchy before I even read any of the words. People DO NOT understand how that works. Elizabeth likely does.) Maybe someone she knows or runs into or is a fan of needs illustration work and Elizabeth does it. Because she’s good at it, and can, and the world of mouth leads to enough work that she isn’t hustling constantly but just is.
Maybe she needs to meet Nan Parati. Nan writes all the signs for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and also for Newport Jazz and Folk. And sometimes commissions $30/sign for funsies. She can write 10+ signs in an hour. I have paid her more than once. Her signs are iconic (google NO Jazz Fest signs nan). She owns the font and may be the head of the JF art department now. An entire career writing signs. Signs people covet! and fight over and steal. I should have stolen the Pearl Jam parking sign this year but I did not. I believe there are internships with Nan at JF. Maybe also at Newport. Or Elizabeth can apply to work at either. Seriously send me an email if this seems like a thing…I will help her figure it out (though all my expertise/connections are in New Orleans some of the same people do Newport).
She can do these things on the side and work at Starbucks (or maybe starbucks cooler independent competition). She can work at a bar. Bartending is awesome and tends to result in loads of cash in short amounts of time so she could work like 3 weekend shifts and have the rest of the time to write the signs, design the fabric, or whatever. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. And it doesn’t have to be all figured out today.
I recently read, as the world seems to have discovered this AGAIN because we do just reinvent the wheel constantly, that humanities degrees are actually better hires because they tend to be more flexible in their thinking and their problem-solving than the stem people. The world also needs people to translate stem-speak into people-speak and maybe make nice looking visuals to go along with it.
Oh this reminded me I once looked into making designs for greeting card companies.
There’s a girl I follow on instagram – Designs By Laney. She created her own stationary business and makes 6 figures. She goes into a lot of detail as to how she did it and shares a lot of her business strategy on instagram.
Again, fairly state specific, but in NY, you generally get a bachelor’s in the content area you want to teach, and then you get a Master’s of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree, or a master’s degree in your content area plus a teaching certification. Then you have to take two accreditation exams to earn your NYS teaching certificate. The MAT is about 1.5-2 years worth of classes and student teaching.
As far as being a nationally certified teacher, if that’s something she’s interested in pursuing, you can do that in a limited number of college programs, but most teachers do it while they’re working a teaching job after the fact.
Good luck to Elizabeth in her search!
I met a dude in my pottery class going through this (caveat: 30 years ago). He was a phenomenal potter and was known on campus as Peter the Potter. Picture a redheaded 6’6″ dude in an art room apron covered in clay throwing these amazingly tall pots like it was nothing. He was in charge of the kiln.
He wanted to be a professional potter but in that job he had to throw to spec, meaning all day every day he was expected to throw the same perfect pot. If he had time left over at the end his potting shift he could throw whatever he wanted, but otherwise it was 8 hours of the same pot over and over again. This made him sad.
Since he was getting an art degree the other option was teaching. He did practice teaching. It did not go well. Practice teaching made him even more sad than a future of eternally throwing perfect pots like a perfect pot throwing robot.
I don’t know what happened to Peter the Potter. Last time I saw him he was firing up the campus kiln again.
I know there wasn’t a call for career ideas, but I’m still going to suggest my field: intructional design. It combines creativity with logical thinking, as I make stuff that helps people learn. This used to be designing classroom sessions, but has moved to more online offerings. This used to be eLessons and job aids, but now it means more videos, short eLessons, and infographics. Yes, I am in the corporate world (a hotel chain), but I am helping front desk people, managers, call center workers, etc perform their job more effectively. I have to take the information from stakeholders and make it digestible. I use Adobe Illustrator sometimes, as well as fun video tools (like Vyond) and more. My degree is in economics, but my background is in hotel management followed by being a corporate trainer (another suggestion…again, it’s corporate but you’re helping people learn/excel at their jobs).
As for assistance with art teacher stuff, does she follow Cassie Stephens on instagram (cassie_stephenz)? She was an art teacher, has written books, and is full of ideas. Might be someone she could message?
Acknowledging that I’m offering merely anecdotal evidence here, but: the current learning system/ID guru on my work team was an art major!
These are great ideas! I don’t think the art degree will be “a waste” even if Eliza does not want to be a starving artist hustling all the live long day. I know an illustrator and they had a couple long term contracts for TV shows, plus a children’s book or two. They also ran a 6-week Saturday morning children’s art class in the community that was well attended (and not cheap, people will pay for kids activities!) and side commissions for some museum signage… a wide range of job opportunities. All this to say, even if her career goes in another direction, there are still opportunities for art!
Another job to consider if she likes working with children is Art Therapy. And I hesitate to suggest this because it’s a “heavy” job, but police sketch artist is an illustrator job that is still needed and contributes to the community.
*Elizabeth
Sorry my autocorrect flipped it on me
“those art teachers are mortal” HA! Off the top of my head I think it’s not uncommon to go “back” to school (college) and get a teaching certification a la carte, or as part of a master’s program. That in combination with the undergraduate degree in art would an art teacher make, would it not? I haven’t googled this. And oh boy, do I agree with Elizabeth that I prefer a job where I am told WHAT TO DO. There was so much emphasis when I was growing up (90s-00s) on “leadership” that those of us who are not natural leaders (aka followers, which leaders need…?) were left feeling kind of inadequate. Which is silly, because society needs a whole lot of people like us to function. I hope she finds a path that works for her.
100% agree. I truly hate the emphasis on leaders. Imagine all those leaders trying to lead, with no followers in sight! Disaster! No teamwork, no collaboration, just FOLLOW ME FOLLOW ME.
Exactly this. And why is “leadership” considered somehow better/smarter/more important? Boo to that. And our society has no idea how many “quiet” leaders who don’t look like leaders are actually bringing about fundamental and important changes. I could go on all day. There’s an inverse relationship between people calling themselves leaders and the chances they are actually successfully leading anyone.
Elizabeth’s campus might have resources she could leverage.
– Alumni career paths – could she use her school’s alumni office and LinkedIn to find recent (last ten years) graduates of her program and see what they do? She could reach out to alums for informational interviews to ask about their paths if any jobs sound interesting. Don’t get discouraged if folks don’t email back; you only need a few hits to get some good information. Even people who are self-employed might know of opportunities that offer regular hours and benefits.
https://career.berkeley.edu/start-exploring/informational-interviews/
– Career Services office – they have might resources for internships that would let her test the waters in various fields, or they might have a job shadowing program.
– Industry magazines – are there any industry publications or websites? Job postings she could peruse to see what is available and what skills are necessary? I found that reading job ads was an education.
Sending good wishes to her! She is thinking about really important questions.
The vast majority of illustrator positions may be hustle and self-promotion, but if Elizabeth is willing to keep looking for the rare exceptions, she may be able to land that job while her peers are all happily settled in their solo studios. Ideally she’ll stay connected to folks in the illustration world as much as possible, for word-of-mouth opportunities.
Spurce: my sister is also an artist in a specialty that generally requires hustle and self-promotion. She eventually landed an office/benefits position at one of the groups on this list. Not digital, and not advertising!
https://blog.overthemoon.com/planning/over-the-moon-best-wedding-illustrators/
I am a principal who regularly hires teachers- including 3 art teachers in the last six years. Teacher licensing is entirely state specific but all of the states I am familiar with (admittedly only three, and all of which are in the Midwest) allow paths to a teaching license that are part of a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree program, or (in some cases) just taking a test once you already have a bachelor’s degree. I do not recommend option 3 as I’ve found programs with clinical/student teaching built into them to grow teachers prepared for the job.
In order to figure out the right path to a teaching license, I recommend picking out a state Elizabeth is interested in teaching and going to the Department of Public Instruction website (different states also call that different things) and find the page that says paths to licensure. That will give you a more complete look at the options, as opposed to college websites which are really just advertising their program.
Any educators from Elizabeth’s K-12 experience would also be happy to talk her through what new teacher programs look like in their state.
In order to get a sense of “do I want to be a teacher,” if someone were to call the summer school principal for my school district and say, “I’m thinking about a program in education, do you have any jobs or volunteer positions available?” she would weep with relief. Most summer school is 4-5 days a week in the mornings so it would take up all of the hours available for working. The education program at her college can also help set her up with opportunities to shadow teachers next semester if her summer is spoken for.
If Wisconsin happens to be a state of interest and I could be at all of use, I’m more than happy to help.
I see that a fellow Wisconsin resident has beaten me to the punch: Google [state name] department of public instruction licensure and make sure to click the site with gov in its names because search engines now suck. It can sound daunting to go back to school for another degree/qualification but in fact many states have programs to speed the process. She should however only choose an option that allows her to get the license while starting teaching (this is in fact possible in many states) if the principal at the school where she works has extremely low teacher turnover.
She can also get a job as a substitute teacher while taking classes. It’s a different skill set but there are never enough subs now.
These are hard questions for a college student and many students struggle with them. She is lucky to have you supporting her! I highly encourage her to make an appointment with her university’s career development office. The staff there have degrees in helping folks figure out these questions and as a college prof I am always trying to get students to go as early in their student career as possible. They can also answer questions about teaching degrees. And figure out how to find alumni with relevant careers. Also talking to her advisor or faculty in her department can be useful for thinking about careers if she didn’t change majors. Best wishes to both of you!
Career choices are hard! I wonder if elizabeth would find this book useful to think about how to structure her art and her life: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43278.Creating_a_Life_Worth_Living
I don’t know anything about art as a college major, or anything about how to become a teacher in the US, but I wish Elizabeth the best of luck. She sounds like a very talented and bright young woman who is really self-aware, and that is remarkable!
I had that same shopping issue in the fall. Canada Post went on strike, which really fucked the small businesses who rely on it. Now strike action is looming AGAIN and it is just so hard for them. It immediately cedes business to the big companies who have their own delivery systems, like Amazon. Anyway, my story is that I bought things for Christmas through Etsy, small artisans, etc., and some things arrived in February. I guess these days I’m buying from Amazon only when I can’t get it anywhere else, but that’s not zero. For example, I get my fifty-pound bags of dog food delivered, because I really can’t do this on my own. I am at peace with this decision.
I HATE when airlines change their schedules! I mean, sometimes it’s only a ridiculous two minute change, but sometimes it is significant and I hate it!
You’ve got some great suggestions, but I also want to gently remind her that her choices now don’t lock her into a future of only one career. Is it easier if she knows now? Of course, but perhaps it’s easier to make some decisions if she knows she can always change her mind.
It can also be helpful to sort out what you want to do for fun versus a career. There are lots of things I do that I wish I could make money at, but I either wouldn’t make enough (canoe guide) or would lose pleasure in it if it became something I had to do for someone else.
Finding a career where you earn enough and have enough free time for your hobbies is a legitimate choice.
Sincerely,
Someone with a BA in English and theatre, a MA in English who thought she might want to teach, might want to go into academia and has done neither but has worked in admin for her whole career at a theatre, as a school, and now at a climate change think tank
Seconding all of this. (And maybe it is important for a girl whose dad & brothers have all taken more of the study computers -> get computers job route to be reminded of).
I’m not sure any of my friends from college (graduated in 2007) are currently doing the exact thing they majored in or thought they wanted to do at the time. Some of us got additional degrees and others of us just pivoted. I’m not sure if that’s a reassuring or frustrating data point.
For what its worth, I did a music undergrad degree and now work in healthcare. But the music degree was never a waste – I look back on that time to just think about and make music with my peers and teachers so fondly, and it taught all those other important skills (practice, dedication, working toward a goal, blah blah blah) that I still use all the time. Like Elizabeth, I also realized during my degree that I didn’t want to hustle of trying to audition and freelance and teach lessons etc to make a solid living as a musician, even though many did and they have a great time with it I’m sure. I ended up doing a victory lap in undergrad to get some pre-requisites for a healthcare degree afterwards. That program only cared that I had an undergrad degree and had good grades, but didn’t care about my major (acknowledging those few required pre-requisite courses). All that to say, if she doesn’t feel any *urgency* to get out of the art degree, it can still have a ton of value and be flexible in the future. Good luck to her!
Elizabeth is clearly a planner! Like others suggest, there may are some side shoots from Elizabeth’s vision for a typical career with her major- like working in an art adjacent field or using her creativity in unforetold ways. Maybe she’ll stumble into some other options she didn’t know about. Nothing wrong with changing paths either. My husband started off at music school, then got a PhD in biochemistry, and now works in computer networking. He still plays music everyday for fun and does some gig work, but gets paid by his 9-5 job.