Sitting in classes at Umass Boston, while working as a professional Prius chauffer wasn’t the Emerson education I wanted. But for somebody who squeaked by with a “C” average in high school, I wasn’t in a position to compete for a spot in college.
I’d set my sites high, majoring in “theatre arts,” and aiming to be a famous movie actor. I’d matriculated into the school and set everything up on short notice. The fact that funding doesn’t work on short notice was unbeknownst to me. In fact, I was left with a huge bill and needed to take an emergency loan from family to cover it.
Anticipating further hassle with financial aid, and discouraged by having to complete gen-ed requirements which I couldn’t relate to acting, I dropped out after one semester, and stayed in the working world, but traveled around, all but giving up on my dreams and vision of making it big in show business.
The period of my life I refer to as my “grunge life,” which actually started in college and more or less continues today continued with all manner of disparaging, low paying jobs.
Fast-forward several years in the narrative and here I am, still in the working-class sector, but now with a creative writing degree: a qualification that can open doors to the art world, and plant the seed for artistic success which will bloom copiously in the long run. There are more online programs now than ever before, and getting this type of education, as well as using it for advancement and creative development, no longer has to be the long journey it was for me.
Clueless about starting out in the arts? That’s because you don’t know what you don’t know. Here’s how to get started:
1. Look on social media for short courses and tutorials on things of interest. You might also consider searching for topics like blogging, making podcasts, drawing in whatever style appeals to you, character-driven fiction, stream-of-consciousness writing and so on.
2. Consider a degree. Consider whether you want to go to a physical school in a destinational location to live on your own, or on campus and have the full college experience, or do everything online, in accordance with your current life. Research the schools. When considering a major think marketability. Look for people who have succeeded with the degree you are considering, or who graduated the schools you are looking into. Go to Indeed.com, etc and search with terms like the degree you would have, or the field you are thinking about.
Know that marketability is not all of the process. Just do something you’re interested in and passionate about. The days of people receiving boxed-in, one-size fits all educations such as accounting and medicine are over. If you’re truly interested in those things AND can honestly say you’re cut out for them, go ahead with it. But the market is flooded with standardized people and those professions can be just as competitive as the arts, with the addition of being very difficult to train and prepare for. So really, it might as well be about what you want to study.
3. Apply for schools. You may need to take an entrance exam, but if you choose to get an associate’s degree or not declare a major starting out, and just take a bunch of random classes at the local community college, there are usually few entrance requirements. Online schools also may not care about SAT or ACT scores the way colleges once did. It’s ideal not to put all your eggs into one basket, but to apply for a couple schools of interest that offer what you’re looking for.
4. Wait. Give the institutions you apply to some lead time. Some offer rolling admissions and others have specific application periods which are specified. Keep working at your usual method of employment, but stay creatively engaged with your community, and read, watch movies, as well as take time to appreciate the arts. And nature for that matter. Nature is always key in creative work.
5. Complete your degree. Eventually you should get into a 4 year college or community college, where you can start building your portfolio and dablling with all the mediums you wish to try out. Take this time to know yourself and your interests. What resonates, what your style is, who your influencers are. If you go to art school, you will really get a diverse survey of creative methods, but as I can vouch for, you can sort of get the art school experience outside of art school, just by trying different disciplines of art and creativity. When you’re done with school, you’ll likely be crosstrained over the arts and sciences and be able to explore graduate level interests. You also should be qualified for better work, including freelance creative projects.
6. Graduate. Life continues. Maybe take a gap-year, then go on to grad school to build your skills and marketability and making teaching a possibility in the future, that could fuel your passions. You may end up working the kind of job you had before. If so, don’t be resentful, but keep looking to expand, and keep practicing your arts. They are not hobbies, they are disciplines at this stage. Start a business around your disciplines, or see what kind of employment you can get with them. You never know what kind of opportunities can come from a diverse, creative education custom-suited to you.
Yes, student loans are intimidating, but if you choose public education, or excel academically and can compete for scholarships, your payments will not be due for a while and when they are, you’ll have some skills that can help you pay for them. Rarely is education ever a waste. It may seem like that for a while, but that is only for a time, while you work on yourself and break down your obstacles.
Education is not the only way to be paid for creativity, and it doesn’t work for everyone. If you have a better plan, go with that. But it can’t hurt to get some formal education in whatever you’re passionate about in life. For many people, that is a creative discipline if you get down to what the human experience actually is.
