I'm in my third year of college and ever since I started my freshman year it seems as though I haven't wanted to be here. I never like going to class, I hate doing assignments. But it's not like I did bad all my life, in high school I was an excellent student. My mom thinks i'm home sick, which isn't true because I absolutely hate the town i'm from and never want to go back. Anyway, i'm starting to think college isn't for me. I really want to travel and pursue a photography career, but I don't want to go to college. Is there any advice to a 20 year old college student who wants to drop out? and is there any other way that I can pursue photography without going to school?
2007-09-16 07:46:41 · 13 answers · asked by Val 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Photography
It's best to have a degree in some kind of college major. Don't turn photography into a chore either because then it's not that enjoyable anymore.
I love photography and would like to be one all my life. But then reality steps in and living in this world is not cheap either. Continue with your education young one. In due time you will find it has payed off and then maybe you can enjoy photography even more.
2007-09-16 07:50:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can always try taking some photography classes at a Junior college or a Trade Tech type of school, to keep up your interest and expand your knowledge.
You may also look into assisting a professional photographer on weddings, just to learn the trade, (if that is in fact the type of photography you are intrerested in). Call some photo studios in your area. You can earn some money at the same time, unless you become an intern (just to learn).
The holidays are approaching. Spend time with your family and take a short break from school, rather than completely giving it up. Then see how you feel after the holidays, and decide. You have come this far, so you really just don't want to give it all up on a random feeling.
Good luck to you!
2007-09-16 08:01:23 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yea I have advice... Don't drop out. It will be the biggest mistake you will ever make. Finish your degree, you have one year left. That is really good. You will regret it in the future. Trust me I know. I quit my 4 year degree in International Trade and Marketing to go to school for a 2 year degree in Photography. Although I attended a top school and was 1 of 50 out of 1500 people chosen to attend, I do not use photography at all except for personal stuff. I learned a lot at that school, but most of the people I graduated with either continued on somewhere else and had to start all over again for a 4 year degree or changed majors completely. I joined the military. The industry is very lucrative and there are not a lot of jobs available. To be considered to shoot for a magazine, you better have the best portfolio ever with lots of experience or you better have some damn good contacts. Good luck. Don't drop out!
2007-09-16 11:31:31 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't drop out now-- you're in the home stretch! The 3rd year is more than half way done!!! The last year or two of college is the best time since you're more likely to be taking classes that interest you since you're done with lots of the prerequisites and into your major.
While you don't need a formal education in photography, it can make it easier since you'll have someone guiding you along the early stages of your development. Are you in a photography program now? If you are, then talk to one of your professors about it. Maybe he/she can help you find something you're passionate about that will light the fire to keep you going. If you're not in a photo program, sign up for some classes and start. You'll be surprised how much you learn in a photo class.
If you drop out now, you're more than likely never going to go back. That piece of paper is really going to make a big difference in your life somewhere down the line.
2007-09-16 08:00:51 · answer #4 · answered by Julia D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course you can puruse it without the degree.
But honestly, you have invested three years. You only have one more to go and it's overwith. On top of that while you may be able to make it on your own chances of getting a good position doing something other than Glamour Shots at the mall without some sort of formal degree is going to be pretty low. Let's face it, college isn't the luxury it used to be anymore, even Mcdonalds is starting to require at least an associates.
If you hate doing assignments photography might not be for you since that's how it works (at any job really). You get assigned to take four rolls of apples or something and you must complete it by X date for the customer....and you get graded on how satisfied they are.
2007-09-16 07:53:27 · answer #5 · answered by pspoptart 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you really liked photography, that is all you could eat, sleep or talk about. If you hate college and the basic stuff, You will be happy you did it LATER. I waited eight years to go to private photo college. Now, I can take the pictures that I want and get the results I wanted to get. Before college, I couldn't get anything the way I wanted it to end up. Any thing you want to do well, you have to learn the basic stuff first. That is the fast track. Or the slow track where thirty years down the road you will GET IT.
2007-09-19 16:57:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have been in school 3 years, you might as well stick with it since you're almost to the degree...maybe it's the school you attend?
Consider transferring to an art school or even one that concentrates in photography (like Rochester Institute of Technology).
To have a career in photography, it'll be easier to get jobs and establish a reputation if you have a degree and people know you can stick with things.
Good luck!
2007-09-16 07:53:24 · answer #7 · answered by christine_ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like everyone else has said, STAY IN SCHOOL!!! You'll need something to fall back on if your photography career fails. Switch your major, take a semester off, look into studying abroad for a year.
2007-09-16 08:17:52 · answer #8 · answered by tigerrrgrrl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like you have not had to work for a living yet. Do not drop out in your current semester. When the semester is done, go out and get a job and learn what the real world is like. After that you will enjoy college and you'll get more out of it. You'll also know how important that degree can be and will get one that is useful.
2007-09-16 07:54:34 · answer #9 · answered by loryntoo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Switch gears in college to careers that will utilize your love for photography. Best to use what you have available to pursue what you will enjoy. Maybe in is not college that turns you off, maybe it is what you are studying.
2007-09-16 12:17:03 · answer #10 · answered by skycat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋