When I grow up, I want to be...

POSTED BY: SpaceAnJL
UPDATED: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 02:11
VIEWED: 9077
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WHITEFALL

Monday, July 24, 2006 9:03 AM

Lol, I hate you all!

I wanted to be a writer!

Meh, enough room in the verse for all of us. But then, if the proportion of writers to total people is the same in life as on this board, we're all screwed.

I'm gonna major in creative writing (see: major in unemployment) and minor in theater. If, or rather when, I can't get anything done with my creative writing degree, I'll just go n teach drama maybe. Thought about teaching littler kids, cause I love em and they're so cool, but somehow I don't think a degree in creative writing would help with that.

Oh well, at least it aint chartered accountancy. (Monty Python joke) It'll at least be an interesting, if not particularly well paying life.

"But, these strong women characters?"

"Why aren't you asking 100 other guys why they don't write strong women characters?" -Joss Whedon

PHOENIXROSE

Monday, July 24, 2006 9:18 AM

Whitefall, some (possibly) depressing stats for you:
1 in every hundred people "want to write"
1 in every hundred of those people actually write anything.
1 in every hundred of those that write anything actually send it anywhere in the hopes of being published.
1 in every hundred of those who try to get published actually manages to get published, and usually it is not a first book that does, but rather a fourth or fifth one.
And 1 in about every thousand novelists actually make their living at it.
I hope I remembered those right.
This is all strictly the book world, of course. I don't know how it is in Hollywood or on Broadway, but I have to think it's not any easier.
Also, if you actually want to teach, you have to jump through a lot of hoops. You can't just say "Well, this isn't working, I'll go teach now!" you would have to go back to school and get licensed for it, then be a TA, then be a sub, then teach.
Just a shot of reality for you. You might consider majoring in English instead; that way you might be able to get into the publishing world without more school if you couldn't make your living as a writer. Anyway, it's a thought.

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6IXSTRINGJACK

Monday, July 24, 2006 9:36 AM

A Junkie.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." myspace.com/6ixstringjack

BABYWITHTHEPOWER

Monday, July 24, 2006 9:41 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
A Junkie.

You lie! The nice man on TV told me that "Nobody says they want to be a junkie when they grow up", and informed me of all the evils of drugs and how they lower your response time and make your friends hate you and take all your bones away. Say no to drugs kids.

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I'll be in my bunk.

"Live with a man forty years. Share his house, his meals, speak on every subject. Then, tie him up and hold him over the volcano's edge--and on that day, you will finally meet the man." ~ Shan Yu

6IXSTRINGJACK

Monday, July 24, 2006 9:43 AM

HAHAHA! That's awesome man. After seeing that commercial when I was a kid I've always wanted to say that. You rule!

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." myspace.com/6ixstringjack

WHITEFALL

Monday, July 24, 2006 9:51 AM

Ahh dangit Rose, I thought i'd be enough of a realist just reminding myself about how screwed I am.

I know there are some extra credentials, but it doesnt take THAT long. Bah, ok, I hope.

"But, these strong women characters?"

"Why aren't you asking 100 other guys why they don't write strong women characters?" -Joss Whedon

PHOENIXROSE

Monday, July 24, 2006 9:56 AM

From the FAQ section of Kansas State University (it came up first...):
“I already have a bachelor’s degree but I want to become licensed to teach. How long will it take to complete KU’s program?”
In most cases, it will take three years of additional, full-time coursework to complete our teacher education program. You will find detailed course and admissions requirements on our web site at www.soe.ku.edu. Before gathering information, you should decide what subjects and grade levels you are interested in teaching. For example, if you have a BA in History and want to become licensed in Secondary History and Government, it will take three years. If you have a BA in Journalism and a master’s degree in Business and want to teach Elementary school or Secondary English, it will take three years. The only exceptions are for people with undergraduate degrees in Math, Science or Foreign Language who want to teach those subjects at the secondary level; they may qualify for our Graduate Certification Program (GCP), which is usually completed in about two years of full-time coursework, including one semester of student teaching internship.
Sorry, but I don't want to you to make the same kind of mistakes I have. I'm realizing now how important having a solid degree is. You will of course do what you want, just please be informed. You, like me, are worth too much to work a miserable job just to pay the bills.

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6IXSTRINGJACK

Monday, July 24, 2006 10:11 AM

That depends entirely on the degree Miss Phoenix. I'm sure all that extra education is very important if you want to teach, but these tech/management degrees are a dime a dozen today and a lot of kids are going to get stuck with huge bills that they'll never pay off working the lousy jobs they'll be able to get with those degrees. I have pleanty of friends and acquaintences in the Chicagoland area who can attest to that. The degree can't hurt, but the large unpayable bill can... especially when it's time to pay the piper. I think that 50% of the kids in college today are wasting their money and should find some more productive way to spend their time. They're just going to ship foreign workers here or send the job overseas and pay somebody who is more qualified less money than they would pay someone who lived here and is accustomed to our standards of living. My advice to anyone struggling to find a job with one of these degrees is to learn a foreign language... preferably Spanish or Chinese..... now you've got something that the other's don't have. And if you learn Chinese then you can translate all the cussing in Firefly for me too.

Don't mean to be a downer, but college really isn't the way to go for a lot of folks who are enrolled now. Especially those racking up that monster bill and drinking their education away.

"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." myspace.com/6ixstringjack

WHITEFALL

Monday, July 24, 2006 10:11 AM

The lesson is... idealism sucks.

Here's an irony: we're all fans of a show about folk doing a miserable job to pay the bills. Huh.

The trouble with a solid degree is this, imo. If you get a solid degree so that you can get a really GOOD job that you hate to pay the bills, in the long run, I'm not sure that's better.

"Find a job that you love and you'll never work a day in your life."

That's what i'm counting on, lame as it may be. I remember thinking the one business I never wanted to be involved in was showbiz, too unreliable and crazy. And then i got my eye on creative writing, primarily because folk kept asking me what I was going to do. But in the worst case, I'll do them extra years of schoolin'. But damn I admit that'd be pretty annoying.

As for majoring in english... I don't think I could stand it. For all my decent scores in english class, I don't want to take too many more analysis courses, and I could not think of a worse fate than being an english teacher. (ok, i guess i could, but.... meh.)

I appreciate your concern. Even if I don't change any of my unemployableness, thanks.

Edit: As to above, at least i dont plan to drink it away, and while it does depend on the financial aid I get, I dont necessarily have to bog myself down with tons of loans, and ie go to a private school n all. But call it family pressures, but I gotta go to college.

"But, these strong women characters?"

"Why aren't you asking 100 other guys why they don't write strong women characters?" -Joss Whedon

PHOENIXROSE

Monday, July 24, 2006 10:16 AM

That's why I specified a "solid" degree; meaning one that will get a good-paying job. I know a lot of people in college are wasting their money. Most of what money is wasted on are art degrees and tech degrees. I'm thinking of going the route of finance, because those kinds of jobs are not given to aliens, generally. If I could stand going the medical route, I would, but I hate the "health-care" system in general and I'm just not that interested.
Really, it can also come down to what you're really good at. For example, many, many people with advertising degrees fall flat on their faces because they have no talent for it. However, those who have talent coupled with a degree are basically set for life.
I'm glad I didn't shell out a lot of money for college before I knew what I was doing, but more and more I want to go. I want to make more than a piddling $9 an hour at a job I hate. I have that very, very real knowlege now, so I want a solid degree. Solid.
Whitefall, I hope you have success in your chosen field. It's been known to happen just remember what Zoe says "Nothing wrong with having a contingency plan."
Hell, I would love to make my living designing wonderous album cover for bands I love. But just in case that doesn't happen, I think I could be really good at the intuitive side of investing; just need to get the other side of that skill-set.
And I didn't say "become an eglish teacher" I said "get a job in publishing" which means less extra school. It's not guaranteed, but it's a lot easier if you have an English degree.
I hear you on that, too, though. I'm awesome at English, but I hate taking the classes.

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