Need some advice

[KurtJeremy]

So this has been in my mind recently and i cant stop thinking about it and its making me sorta depressed.

so the dilemma really is that im going back to uni this month, after stopping back in 2012 because of financial problems, i was supposed to go back to it in 2013 but decided not to because the regular semesters already started and i dont want to be an irregular student by barging in the middle of it.

i have huge concerns about going , firstly i dont really like the course that im taking anymore ,
secondly i just got back to drawing nowadays and would be aiming for drawing 10 hours at least in a day, and im afraid by going to uni would destroy my schedule and wouldnt have the time to draw and build up my skills.
third , i dont believe on higher education anymore , now that we have the internet and the sudden boom of online skill building sites such as udemy and skillshare, i dont think going to uni is practical. also taking subjects that has nothing to do with your major is always a waste of time , energy and money. and im highly concerned about that.

so heres where i need help , how can i convince my parents? i have been studying this concept art thing and the industry of visual arts illustration for quite some time now, and im pretty sure that i can really make it if i worked hard at it.
or maybe there are other artists that had the same problem as mine? can you share some of your thoughts? and after youve graduated did you ever used your skills to get a job thats related to it?
i was surfing around the net for uni interviews around my place and i was depressed at seeing people graduating and getting a job thats nothing to do with their major! i mean how? why? 4 years of hard work and you get a job that has nothing to do with it?
it frightens me oh so much.

so yeah i apologize for a very long post. but i hope for some honest answers. this is such an important decision after all in my life , and i want to make the necessary right choice as i am living in an average life and were not that actually safe financially.

thanks in advance
jeremy

[Adam Lina]

Maybe you should just start a minor in art and keep going with the current major. My brother is a guitarist and got his degree in business and minored in music. Hes got a good paying job now and still has time to play in a band in his free time. Careers in the arts can take a long time to build up to. Where as a lot of other jobs dont require such a difficult to learn skill set. You could get a soulless office job and keep working on art after work.

Sure you cant work on art 10 hours a day and work full time but are you spending 10 hours a day on art currently? Strangely enough I find having less free time can actually force you to work harder. If you know you dont have anything you have to do except practice art all day then you end of putting it off for too long. On the other hand if you know you only have a couple hours a day then you'll make the most of those hours. I know they say you need to be practicing like 10 plus hours a day but I find that a bit extreme and unrealistic for most people. You dont NEED to be a grand master by 30 anyways. Just dont plan on having any kids and a house payment in the next 10 or so years and you'll have plenty of time to become a pro artist. :)

[zooda]

Express to your parents what you've expressed in this message?

Write it all down and ask them to sit and listen. Maybe let passion for the art career you want to pursue show through.

Any kind of formal training you can sign up for, be it night classes or something if you are worried your folks won't get on board with what they might perceive as ditching education entirely.

If you have a lot of work show it to them, and/or tell it to them. Explain what you have learned thus far and maybe the next few stages your tackling and why so many hours need to be put in consistently etc etc.

I really think honesty and putting the time into writing something very clear just to say, "I'm making a big decision here and your support is going to really effect how I move ahead with it"

This is just a gut reaction to reading your post.

If it is of any help I am very glad!

J

[meat]

Yeah night classes or certificate programs are worth considering, especially if your parents won't let you not go to college completely.

I strongly recommend against the 10 hour a day idea. Life is full of surprises, including yourself. Something will happen to interrupt your 10 hour a day plan, and not just once. When that happens, it'll make you feel bad, and that bad feel will build until it deflates and crestfallen you out of that 10 hour a day plan, which will then make you feel even worse. If you really want to succeed, you attack smart, small steps, and for the long term, which will not stay small because they build up too.

Another thing to think about is stay positive about every experience/class has the potential to be useful to you if you just look hard enough. Don't fall into the trap of complain, criticize and condemn. That's what a lot of people like to do to appear cool. Not saying anyone who does any of them is trying to appear cool, but if you catch yourself trying to pretend you're cool, know what's what, can't careless 'cos [insert reason here], you're onto the path of not-gonna-learn-and-improve-more.

Attitude determines altitude.

Most environment and peer will try to mold your attitude into the negative or the jaded. Don't.Let.Them. Dare to be positive, be foolish, be deep. With the right attitude, it matters much less whether you're learning in school, online, at work, or as intern.

Oh yeah, interning, even for free, at an actual, practicing studio is like going to school without the debt. Even your living expense while interning free won't match tuition cost PLUS living expense. I didn't do that path, and I sorely wish I freaking didn't listen to my peer and family who said free internship is below respectable people.

[Baoto]

People not working in the major they graduated in has a lot to do with companies valueing degrees more than actual knowledge (depending on where you are in the world). Any degree, even unrelated to the jobs people apply to, makes it easier to actually get the job, and that might be what your parents have in mind too.

You would also be surprised how much you can use the knowledge you gain later on. It's not so much about what you are learning, but more about the insights you're getting and the connections you're making. That's at least how it was for me and a bunch of others I know.

About a year ago I was in the same situation. I actually quit university partly because of the reasons you mentioned. At first I took a part-time job, to support myself and still having enough time left. The working hours and amount of free time were great, but the job itself was soul-crunching and I didn't earn enough to keep it up over a longer period of time. In the end I didn't go to art school as I originally planned, but took a not art-related dayjob, and pursue art in the mornings/evenings. It may not be the ideal solution, but it's one everybody could live with and all things considered I'm actually pretty okay with how it turned out.

What I'm trying to say is, no matter which way it goes for you, you'll find a way to get in the hours of practice (I also totally agree on what Haze and meat said about the 10 hour practice each day thing!). Talk it over with your parents, try to get them to understand how important this is and see how it goes from there.