Degree or Bust?

Degree or Bust?

Let’s talk about life. Well, I guess my life at the moment. So much has happened this year that it feels like it’s been 5 years. We had a baby (who just turned 1!), bought our first townhouse together, and now I am looking for a major shift in my career. I have been with the company I work at now for five years now and besides my problems with management, I am also wanting to do something other than marketing. I want to design interiors duh! haha. So I enrolled in a program not so close to home and because it’s a private school, it’s not so cheap. As of now I am enrolled in the 12 week certificate program which basically means nothing. It gives you a little taste of what you could be learning and then they hit you with the AA program… They hand you this whole packet and tell you why you can’t get a job without it. In short, “Give us your money.” I go on craigslist today to find a part time job in the industry, and everything is saying how they want you to have a 4 year degree and they want to pay you peanuts. Good grief (see what I did there?) And I need to learn CAD and quick.

I am really loving these classes and all that I am learning, but I already have THREE degrees. Folks, I’m not bragging. I think it’s excessive and a little ridiculous since its mainly due to the crappy economy in 2008 and wanting a creative job. The plan was to always be in advertising and then I was finally on the brink and I decided it wasn’t for me. Isn’t it strange? We think we want a certain life so badly and then it turns out we just like the idea of that life? I wanted to be able to say I was in advertising, but didn’t want the highly competitive and extremely critical aspect of the industry. Five years later I am here. Working in a family owned manufacturing facility in Orange County. It’s low stress and nothing extreme is ever asked of me and yet I want a bit more of a challenge. Most importantly I don’t love what I do and I always thought I’d be that person, doing what they love. I lied to myself for a couple years, “I don’t need to feel fulfilled by my job / It pays the bills / What matters is my life when I get home.” I love my family. Daniel, Jack, hell even our cats, but I do need more. I need to earn my money in a way that makes me feel complete. So this blog is it. I am not shelling out thousands of dollars for another degree. I just can’t afford the tuition or the time away from my family. So I am going to prove them wrong. You can be successful in the interior design industry without having an interior design degree. Lets do this.