Dream VS. Realistic career path.

respectyourbus

Hey, I think this is a pretty important question for a lot of young people out there. I'm hitting the dilemma of wheather to pursue my dream career or a realistic one.

I could go to college and do an arts degree in english and history which should lead to teaching or maybe lecturing if im very dedicated. this is the Realistic option, although many would dispute that as far as employment goes. I do love English and History, I just think it could be a very isolated/lonely career in many respects, i'd much rather work with people my own age. There's also the disparaging fact that academics pour huge ammounts of time into their work but their FYPs and PHDs often end up gathering dust on the shelf, and I think this could eat my soul given long enough.

My other option is to do a degree in Film-making, I have no idea what it how it could turn out and I could very easily end up on the dole with no good job prospects. However, I think this is a dream job and I would love to spend my working life around other, enthused people, all working on the same project. If I could make it as a Director or editor, I could continue with my love of stories that attracts me to English and History without having to lock myself away all the time, there would be other people contributing to the work. It would be much more social, and exciting. But then reality is worth considering, I suppose.

I'd love anybody's thoughts or experiences with this type of problem. Or if anyone is in a similar situation I'd like to know what your thinking. Cheers.

pathway33

BA in NUI Galway studying film, english, history + 1 other in first year and dropping 2 in second year any good?

May be others do film and english/history too?

cailin_donn

Same position as me!!

Realistic Career: I'll probably end up teaching English and History, but I really think that it'll slowly kill me, no matter how good the holidays are.

Dream Career: Actress. I've wanted it since I was 5, but I know it's a risky business and it's mostly down to luck and looks.

Anyway, I've applied for the BA Connect w/ Theatre and Performance Studies in NUIG so I'm hoping it'll work out!!

respectyourbus

pathway33 wrote: »

BA in NUI Galway studying film, english, history + 1 other in first year and dropping 2 in second year any good?

May be others do film and english/history too?

Yeah ive seen some of these middleground courses around, its what ill probably do as I cant see myself comming to a definate decision between these two possible career paths.

I worry about ending up the jack of all trades, master of none. I suppose the middleground course would let me put off deciding until I've done the BA, then either do a postgrad in English, History or education, or I could get some hands-on experience in Film-making. Cheers.

respectyourbus

cailin_donn wrote: »

Same position as me!!

Realistic Career: I'll probably end up teaching English and History, but I really think that it'll slowly kill me, no matter how good the holidays are.

Dream Career: Actress. I've wanted it since I was 5, but I know it's a risky business and it's mostly down to luck and looks.

Anyway, I've applied for the BA Connect w/ Theatre and Performance Studies in NUIG so I'm hoping it'll work out!!

Its good to hear about other people in the same position as me. I think your right to go with the NUIG degree. It keeps your options open, I might see you in Galway!

A friend of mine is doing single Drama in DIT, he loves the course but has been followed by a nagging doubt ever since the first day when they gave him the statistic of people making a living out of just acting, about 1 in 100. Still, he's happy, better that he did something he liked.

Also, as nobody can get employment in any sector these days, its as good a good time to go after something idealistic. I know of very few peopwho are going for a career in Acting/Film-making/Astronaught, poeple are scared of pursuing unstable careers so It may work out better for those who do, more Jobs!

Or ill end up pennyless, I dunno. Good luck with the whole life thing.

FredBaby!

Phew! I thought I was the only one in this boat. I have to say that those BA connect courses are a lifesaver. I would love to be an artist but I'm not sure I could stand going to art college. So I'm applying for a bevy of arts courses. I think Creative writing would be good but I'd be equally happy doing Film studies or Theatre Performance...It's all too confusing

--hughesy--

I'm in the same boat people :pac:

Realistic Option:
Medicine or Engineering... My parents, guidance counsellor and pretty much any credible source is telling me that I need to pick a career with options, not necessarily in Ireland ( seeing as I kinda want to emigrate - sick of the weather ha ). They all want me to have a clear career path. Eg none of them want me to do Arts :P I know, kind of the old-fashioned attitude to Arts. No point, no use.

Dream Option:
Ok tbh this hasn't been thought out so well, seeing as in my opinion doesn't know anything about college course ( lethal combination of lack of knowledge and lack of interest ).... So this is where I need help people, so I'm very interested in statistics ( I know it sounds boring:rolleyes: but I could just spend hours and hours on wikipedia looking up income inequality in the US or HIV rates in Africa ). Also I'm interested in psychology. I've been trying to think for ages what possible career I could get from these interests but no luck


So any help would be much appreciated.

respectyourbus

FredBaby! wrote: »

Phew! I thought I was the only one in this boat. I have to say that those BA connect courses are a lifesaver. I would love to be an artist but I'm not sure I could stand going to art college. So I'm applying for a bevy of arts courses. I think Creative writing would be good but I'd be equally happy doing Film studies or Theatre Performance...It's all too confusing

I'm glad to see some people with similar problems. Its a shame that as far as I can tell everyone on here has a great ambition so I dont think the voice of common sense is going to be shouting here. I would say do the connect degree and find something you like and whihch will give you employment opportunities.
The kind of careers we're think of (Filmmaking, Acting, Art) are incredibly intense and demanding, and unless you are at the top of these field's, it'll be difficult to make a living. My sister started out in the Limerick Art college last year, in secondry school she was the top of the year in Art, but she found it very hard to keep up the work output at third level. She ended up dropping out and is probably going to UL for English and Japanses next year. I think she got too engrossed in the arts area too fast and felt she had no other options after going into the single art course, so she had a lot of pressure on her to preform, and her art suffered, it became a chore rather than a passion.
On the other scale of things, I dont want to go into a realistic course like commerce or management, as I have no flair for them and I would be really unhappy. I'm going for a middleground course (the connect one, I think but not decided yet) and I figure any loss in income or employment opportunity will be a gain in fulfillment and job satisfaction, and I'm more than happy to make that trade. Also, with the connect course if I find my desire to be a filmmaker isnt matched by an actual abilty to do the job well, at least ill have something to fall back on.

respectyourbus

--hughesy-- wrote: »

I'm in the same boat people :pac:

Realistic Option:
Medicine or Engineering... My parents, guidance counsellor and pretty much any credible source is telling me that I need to pick a career with options, not necessarily in Ireland ( seeing as I kinda want to emigrate - sick of the weather ha ). They all want me to have a clear career path. Eg none of them want me to do Arts :P I know, kind of the old-fashioned attitude to Arts. No point, no use.

Dream Option:
Ok tbh this hasn't been thought out so well, seeing as in my opinion doesn't know anything about college course ( lethal combination of lack of knowledge and lack of interest ).... So this is where I need help people, so I'm very interested in statistics ( I know it sounds boring:rolleyes: but I could just spend hours and hours on wikipedia looking up income inequality in the US or HIV rates in Africa ). Also I'm interested in psychology. I've been trying to think for ages what possible career I could get from these interests but no luck


So any help would be much appreciated.

Right, I havent the foggiest idea what you'd do to combine those interests into a career....Mathematical Psychology.......or something, your after some very specific knowladge and I think its unlikly that anyone here knows what to do, so sorry about that.

Its also a very good point you raised though, its one thing for us to decide we want to be filmmakers and actress, how do we coinvince our parents, im gonna assume that for most of us our parents will be paying for at least some of the expenses of college if not all, so they are going to have to have some faith in the course. And for example, my Fathers an accountant, I dunno how much he is gonna warm to the idea of filmmaking. I suppose ill try to downplay the filmmaking and enforce the arts side of things (make him think my real aim is to be a teacher). I can tell him the truth when Ive made my first blockbuster:).

For you, id imagine you should downplay the medicine thing. No parent is going to want to see their child forsake being a doctor to pursue a career in....well anything, if you become a doctor they can feel that they completly won in the raising children department. Also, You need to find a course that you want to do before you approach them again, parents (mine anyway) dont want wishy-washy career choices, with good reason probably. So, yeah, I dunno how helpful advice that is but there you go.

And finally, does anywon know of any other good courses like the Galway one, I cant find any but Id hate to hear about this great course in DCU or Cork or somewhere after ive moved to Galway, Cheers.

FredBaby!

[QUOTE=respectyourbus;65329623
And finally, does anywon know of any other good courses like the Galway one, I cant find any but Id hate to hear about this great course in DCU or Cork or somewhere after ive moved to Galway, Cheers.[/QUOTE]

As far as I know Galway is the only uni with the Connect courses that you can do specialist subjects in, although Trinity does have film studies as part of Arts and they also have Drama. Most of the other uni's have normal arts courses.

pathway33

respectyourbus wrote: »

And finally, does anywon know of any other good courses like the Galway one, I cant find any but Id hate to hear about this great course in DCU or Cork or somewhere after ive moved to Galway, Cheers.

Language, literature and film in UL?

English and Film in UCD?

wayhey

--hughesy-- wrote: »

I'm in the same boat people :pac:

Realistic Option:
Medicine or Engineering... My parents, guidance counsellor and pretty much any credible source is telling me that I need to pick a career with options, not necessarily in Ireland ( seeing as I kinda want to emigrate - sick of the weather ha ). They all want me to have a clear career path. Eg none of them want me to do Arts :P I know, kind of the old-fashioned attitude to Arts. No point, no use.

Dream Option:
Ok tbh this hasn't been thought out so well, seeing as in my opinion doesn't know anything about college course ( lethal combination of lack of knowledge and lack of interest ).... So this is where I need help people, so I'm very interested in statistics ( I know it sounds boring:rolleyes: but I could just spend hours and hours on wikipedia looking up income inequality in the US or HIV rates in Africa ). Also I'm interested in psychology. I've been trying to think for ages what possible career I could get from these interests but no luck


So any help would be much appreciated.

Damn there's a new course I think you'd like but I can't remember what it is?! I know it's been out 1/2 years and I was talking to someone at Galway about it... I think it was Galway anyway. I'll have a look round, see if I can remember the name... I remember it involved the study of epidemics, lots of statistics and the health element too..

cailin_donn

WAYHEY: a straight psychology course itself involves a lot of statistics and maths, so maybe thats the one for you?

cork*girl

Same boat..

Realistic: Try and get Primary Teaching in Mary I (doubtfull) or else do Arts in UCC and go on to do the primary teaching postgrad or else secondary teaching (Geography and History)

Dream: I have a few dream careers..Dunno how I would do it but maybe Arts and film studies and go into research with RTE or else Film Certification but there isnt many jobs in that here..

Would also love to go into Politics..

However I dont think I have the courage to go for the "dream" career.. we will see..

respectyourbus

Thanks for the advice about UCD and UCC, unfortunatley theres a big difference between Film-making and film studies degrees, the first one being how to make a film, whereas film studies is more about the analysis of a film as a piece of work, like the way novels are analyised in English.

I could do film studies as part of an Arts degree in a few places, but its not going to help much with actual Filmmaking. I might have to go to a Film-school to get the king of education Im looking for. Suppose I could try to organise the hours between two different colleges, I should look into that.

Monkey61

If you really really want to get into the film industry, depending on what department you are going for - you could just start making calls and trying to get some experience and get your foot in the door that way.

Maybe it has changed recently, but a few years ago anyway just putting yourself out there and trying to get work was a much better idea than any course on offer. IO don't know a single person working in that industry that did anything related to it in college, if they even went to college in the first place.

Also, you could always do an MA in Film production after your degree in any subject really...so you could just keep your options open and do your preferred degree.

PeakOutput

Do What You Love No Excuses

respectyourbus

Monkey61 wrote: »

If you really really want to get into the film industry, depending on what department you are going for - you could just start making calls and trying to get some experience and get your foot in the door that way.

Maybe it has changed recently, but a few years ago anyway just putting yourself out there and trying to get work was a much better idea than any course on offer. IO don't know a single person working in that industry that did anything related to it in college, if they even went to college in the first place.

Also, you could always do an MA in Film production after your degree in any subject really...so you could just keep your options open and do your preferred degree.

Yeah, Ive heard that is the best way to get into the film industry from some people, just start doing small jobs on-set and work your way up the ladder, learning hands-on and making contacts.

I also heard that when you do it that way, it'll take years for you to work your way up to something like Directing or editing, and people will be less inclined to give you an important job without any experience of doing it, even at an amateur level (which you get to do in a film school). Film school can give you the opportunity to 'skip a few rungs on the ladder'.

I think id like to go to college and have that other option of English and history if filmmaking went badly. I also think English would be a great help with for any job involving scriptwriting/editing. Doing an MA after an Arts degree would probably be too much time spent in college and not enough hands-on experience to get by in the Film industry. The joint arts and filmmaking BA is my favourite option right now, followed by joining some film crew at a low level and working my way up.

respectyourbus

PeakOutput wrote: »

Do What You Love No Excuses

I'm not a fan of unchecked confidence in achieveing my dream career, its just a fact that if im not good enough at it, I wont be able to do what I love and make a living out of it.

Hes right that you need to take the initiative and throw caution to the winds (to some extent) if your gonna do something unrealistic that you love, but he seems to be promoting total dedication to your passion regardless of how unviable it is. It also should be noted that as he says he has loads of money already, so he can afford to spend years working at something he loves and make no money out of it. Unfortunatley most us cant. I dont want to end up unemployed and with no job prospects.

I like his passion, but I believe in covering my arse, just in case.

pilotgirl

The Smart option isnt always the best yano ?

Ofcourse follow your dream job it will literally shape you into the person you will become !

You only have one life, live it

LutherBlissett

No doubt about it - it's a tricky 'un!

It's important to remember this though: what you choose in college may in no way determine your future career. I'm not sure what the percentage of people who take their undergrads in a particular subject actually go on to work in that area, but it's far from a majority. Nowadays, a college degree is not for life - there are so many other options.

However, don't be swayed by that into completely throwing pragmatism to the winds. At some point, unless you are in an economically advantageous position, you will need to start thinking about job options. And in some sectors, there is just more demand than supply. So weigh it up - do you have the skills to do acting or filmmaking, or is it a pipedream? Or if not the skill, do you have the potential to pursue a path like that? Obviously you can't reduce it to a mathematical equation which adduces a truth for all time, but be honest with yourself.

I took a strictly common sense degree, which I sort of tumbled into by virtue of the process of elimnation. Some of the stuff I eliminated, like Arts due to risk of unemployment - I shouldn't have.

While a degree is not for life, if you are not in a position to drop out (fiscally or otherwise), 3/4 years studying something reluctantly can sometimes feel like a long, long haul. So choose carefully!

Fad

Words of caution here; If you think you like psychology, source a psych text book and read a bit of it.

A lot of people think they like the sound of psych and then get to it in college and end up HATING it....

spinandscribble

Fad wrote: »

Words of caution here; If you think you like psychology, source a psych text book and read a bit of it.

A lot of people think they like the sound of psych and then get to it in college and end up HATING it....

true, plenty in my course thought it would be like dr phil.

Psychedelia

My dilema is music or medicine.

I can't say which is the dream one, but the realistic one is medicine.

i have medicine down and i think i could love it. but then all i ever hear is how horrible it is, esp here on boards. and from others in the noncyber world.

but then there really isn't much of a chance of a career in music.

Its so annoying tossing between these choices!

How do you choose and not regret!

Sophsxxx

I want to be a journalist and always have. I've been told that I'll never get anywhere because it's such a competitive field, yada yada yada.
So I thought.... business... I'm quite good at that but the idea doesn't excite me as much as journalism does.
Do I want to waste 4 years on a business degree to get a job that I'll probably resent or follow my dream and know that if it didn't work out that at least I tried?
I've never been sensible anyway so I might as well go for journalism and see what happens!:D

RocketFalls

I suppose I'm lucky in this respect, insofar as I don't have any especial talent and hence no lofty ambitions to go with it.
I was quite enthusiastic about History and English until I realized that I can't write coherently and essays give me the heebie-jeebies, so now I've settled on some kind of biological science. Preferably something plant-related.
Can't go wrong with science careers-wise, or so I hope.

I'll stick to reading the efforts of talented people with Arts degrees instead.

FerrisBueller

Has anyone ever thought of mixing the dream and the reality together?
If you REALLY put your mind to it, it can be done.
For example I'm doing a teaching degree and I originally wanted to go into Journalism. I still write for the university paper, blogs, etc and I'm still getting my proper degree.

Also, if you really want to get a good start in the industry of radio, film, etc you should be ringing up places, etc now and willing to work for FREE just to get exp. I know of a girl who told a radio station a few years ago that she'd do every single crappy job they wanted for the year for free and she's now a PR Associate in New York 5 years later.

Hellokarkar

glad someone else feels the same

Dream: always wanted to be an artist/psychologist so art therpy would be nice but i'm not smart enough to get the points for psychology and my confidence has been shot since JC had a horrible teacher who put me down all the time.

Realistic: soical work/care.. i like helping people and it seems fair y'know?

spurious

Hellokarkar wrote: »

Dream: always wanted to be an artist/psychologist so art therpy would be nice but i'm not smart enough to get the points for psychology and my confidence has been shot since JC had a horrible teacher who put me down all the time.

So wait and study it as a mature student when the points issue won't be a problem.
There is always another way.

dory

I agree with those who say try to combine both.

I too wanted to be a film-maker, and now I make films for the UN.

I did one of those mixed degrees, media and Irish. Irish is fantastic if you want to get into film in Ireland. And I always got money on the side teaching it. I too once sucked at the language, was by far my worst subject, but I decided to learn it and I did.

Someone back along said the'd be afraid to be a jack of all trades, expert in none. With a lot of media jobs it's what you learn outside the course that is most important. I use photoshop every day, it was not on my course at all. Just about nothing I did on my course is relevant here. But I needed the word 'media' on my CV to get in the door.

If you can manage to mix your dream with a proper job for a while you can build up experience that'll help you get a job you love. I travelled and made films abroad which helped me get where I am. I didn't get paid for a long time, so taught Irish to fund that.

Life's far too short to be working a job you don't like. And to say you can't get the points for a course is bull, there's always a way.

EDIT: Also, my father is a sports broadcaster which may be a dream job for some. He taught for years, doing the commentating on the side before getting a real job in it. If you want it enough this is the sort of thing you need to do.