They say if you love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life. That’s probably true. It’s also true that the majority of the working class feels like they are working. Is this because there aren’t enough jobs for us to all do what we love? Possibly. But, what if there’s another reason.
What if we aren’t doing what we love because we don’t discover what that is until it’s too late. Or we think we know, and then change our mind. At this time we may already have a family, debt, or responsibilities that make it more difficult (not impossible, but it may seem that way) to pursue a career doing what we love.
Which brings up the question: How do you discover your passion and still allow yourself adequate time to pursue that passion uninhibited? If you’re a creative type, that answer may already exist.
An Experiment In Discovering Your Passion
If my daughter was graduating high school tomorrow (she’s only two so this is hypothetical) I would have a really hard time justifying her attending a traditional four-year college or university, unless she was absolutely 100% certain in her career path. For the sake of this piece let’s assume two things:
1) she is not interested in a career in math, science, law, or engineering, and…
2) she is uncertain or “undecided” as they call it, which statistically, is 4x more likely to be the case,
Eighty percent of college-bound students have yet to choose a major, according to Dr. Fritz Grupe, founder of MyMajors.com. But they are still expected to pick schools, apply to and start degree programs without knowing where they want to end up. It is little wonder 50 percent of those who do declare a major, change majors — with many doing so two and three times during their college years, according to Grupe.
This indecisiveness isn’t surprising. I’m 27 and have already worked in numerous different “careers” and continue to evolve and adapt on a yearly basis. The only thing I’ve really narrowed down is that my career needs to involve the creation of things in order for me to feel fulfilled and excited about the work I’m doing. That leaves it pretty open-ended.
Back to the problem at hand–choosing a school and a major/career that will lead you to a job doing what you love when you’re only 18 years old. The way we are being socially constructed and educating our kids in junior and high school is not preparing them to adequately make these adult type choices.
All this pressure to choose can come at an extensive cost. For some, it’s their parents who have to shell out the money. For others, it’s in the form of student loans, that will take 25-35 years to pay off.
According to the College Board, roughly 40 percent of those who start a four-year degree program still have not earned one after year six. And while the graduation rates are better at private schools where higher tuitions provide incentive not to linger, long-termers can still be found.
We’re experiencing a fundamental shift, and something’s gotta give — the costs are too high and the value you get in return is not matching up. Here’s what I would do.
Free? Sounds too good to be true.
Let’s assume that that I have saved about $90,000 for my daughter’s higher education. If she chooses the traditional 4-year route and dabbles in a major or two, we could probably get her through with very little debt (depending on the school she chose). She would have a degree that could get her a decent paying entry level job in a field that she may or may not be excited about working in. Relatively speaking, this isn’t a bad situation to be in by any means. It might be what some people call a first world problem. But, I want you to remember that doing what you love may very well be a first world problem, it’s still a very REAL problem.
Here’s the alternative.
Take a year, or two, and use nothing except free or very inexpensive membership based courses to build a large repertoire of tangible skills. A great place to start, CreativeLive. In this case, the indecisiveness is not only okay, it’s actually perfect. Creative Live offers free streaming live education courses and then anytime access to those courses with a one-time fee. (Read more about CreativeLive’s business model).
Starting with Creative Live is the perfect way to address the choice issue. For the first 3 months, or what you would consider a college semester, you watch nothing but the free courses. Total cost: $0 besides equipment like a computer and WIFI – things you would be paying for at college anyway.
An example of an upcoming schedule looks like this:
The choices and the diversity of information available is profound. It’s also intentional and poignant. At the end of 3 months, I would sit down with my daughter and evaluate what she’s learned. Some of it will have probably bored her, but chances are there is something that excited her. If it’s photography, she can start diving into all the free photography courses. Even if the course is “The Creative Newborn Photography Studio” and she has no interest in Newborn Photography, she is bound to pick up something from the 3-day course. If she’s into hand lettering, she can get involved in all courses on typography and design. You get the idea. Have I mentioned it’s free?
After a semester or two of free courses, let’s assume she has a focus and is into a particular subject. I would encourage her to immediately go find someone she looks up to and go work for them. If they won’t pay her, then she can work as an intern (I don’t believe in the traditional internship, but in this case I would support it). The point of this phase is to surround herself with someone who is living the life and working in the field she wants to be in. She does this for 3-6 months, maybe a year. If she’s working for free, I would use the money I have set aside to support her. At this point, I have maybe invested $5,o00-$10,000 in her higher education.
After a year, we would take a look at everything. What she’s learned. What she loves. What she hates. All of it. We would have an extensive de-briefing and multiple conversations about her options, which would include:
- Attending a traditional school (with a full understanding that she may be on her own to pay some of the debt back)
- Attending a specialized school like OTIS
- Traveling internationally with an organization for social experience and culture that aligns with her new “focus”
- Continuing with the Creative Live free model for another 3-6 months to help her hone in her focus
As I’m writing this, I’ve realized that it may appear that I don’t want to invest financially in education. But, that’s not the case at all. What I’m trying to do is be calculated in my approach to finding the best value for my money. Investing in education is extremely important. Investing wisely in education is even more important. In other words, what I don’t want for my daughter is $60,000 in debt and a piece of paper that suddenly gives her permission to pursue something that she could’ve pursued all along.
A few notes:
In addition to the education Creative Live offers, there are an incredible amount of resources available for free, or small membership fees. Some of them include:
- Vimeo
- YouTube
- Team TreeHouse
- Podcasts, like this one from SeanWes
- Lynda.com
- SkillShare
If you can’t find what you’re looking for in one of those places, simply go to Google and type it in. Chances are there is something written, shot, podcasted, or drawn that will help you find the answer.
What’s Next
I don’t have any plans of going back to school, and like I mentioned above, my daughter is only two, so I won’t be delving into this experiment any time soon. But, if anyone does, I would love to hear about it. This model could apply for someone who is well beyond the typical “college years”. Some things would have to be tweaked, but the idea is there.
