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Follow Dream Job or Sure Thing Job?

  • Thread starter Thread starter theOP
  • Start date Start date
T

theOP

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i have two options in mind for a career: become a teacher or become a writer (comedy sketch to be specific)

Becoming a teacher, there are benefits. Scholarships/Grants are easier to get, when i get out of college there will more than likely be job openings SOMEWHERE. I don't care about the pay and working with/teaching middle school kids isn't a problem and in fact is enjoyable for me.

my dream job, one that i feel is what would make me the utmost happiest is writing funny material for a living. becoming a humorist/writer/etc means not having to be in a 9-5 routine, dressing up in a dress code every single day for 40 years, etc. it means, for me, freedom. but it's a job thats tough to break in to. its not like becoming a teacher where straight out of college you have a degree in a specific field and can get in relatively easy.

so im stuck between practicality and hopes/dreams.

by the way, yes, becoming a teacher isn't a 'sure thing' and there might be some trouble getting hired and it's not 100 percent BUT compared to being a writer its a much better chance of getting work somewhere and not being unemployed living with parents.

advice?
 
Roger&Me said:
All you have to do is write something so masterful, no one can deny its greatness. Then its a sure thing. :)
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Right.. And this will probably be done at some random 4A.M. anyway... i vote get back in school... and in the in-between hours pursue your passion :D

You've worked with middle school students... and enjoyed it?? Can you teach me a thing or 2 about behavior MANAGEMENT? I can dig their honesty, and how they kick it socially.. but when it comes time for academics, middle schoolers IME are biologically unable to tune in. That's JME!

I'm going to school for special education, then I'm going to pursue a certificate in BCABA. If I like it enough, I'll get my master's. Then become BACB, and open my own biz...

Is this your first time here? You should get a username..
 
I have a co-worker facing this conundrum right now too. She has a for-sure steady job lined up, but its not very creative or rewarding, but will pay the bills, etc. She would also have to live in a crappy town nowhere near anything that she enjoys. A job just opened up in something she's really excited about, but doesn't pay nearly as well, and is only for a few years, and after that the future of the position is completely up in the air. Tough choices.

So, in my mind, having a secure source of income is pretty damn useful... you can work on your writing as a hobby until you feel it is at the level to try to get a writing job (you can always quit teaching, and many people get burnt out after several years anyways).

Remember: Your career path isn't locked into stone.
 
You could always go to school to be a writer and become a copywriter or an editor when you get out. Then you would have more tools in your arsenal to work on your comedy, which you could do in your spare time while you pull in an income as a working writer.

Just a thought.
 
Pursue your dreams. If it doesn't work out, you'll get by and will have learned a lot in the process. If you don't have any major obligations at this point, why not? It's not like the stakes of failure are (seem) high for this, compared to other dream jobs people pursue. For example, you'd be in much better shape if it didn't work out than the countless folks who've taken out $70,000 loans to become a helicopter pilots, only to find no jobs whatsoever.
 
I say follow your dreams. Your dreams could be profitable but its a gamble. You also have to support yourself between then and now.


However, being a literature student might give you a lot of chances to improve your writing. If you become a professor you might be able to get away with working part time and still having time to write...less money, but you could still do both....might not make a dent in those student loans for a while if you go that route.

How much more education do you need to become a teacher?

If you didnt become a teacher, what would you do for food and rent until you hit it big? Would that be easier or harder than being a teacher part time?
 
Every writer needs a day-job before they're able to support themselves just by writing.

One of the hard things about a writer's life is that, generally, he must juggle a normal job, with making time for writing (and, eventually, with a family).

So, if you're really committed to writing, then take the teaching job, and make time for writing. You're going to need to be disciplined, but others have done it.

Also, working regularly will give you material for your writing, keep you relatively sane, etc.

Pursue a teaching career, but leave time in your week to write. What should happen will happen.
 
In college you will be able to test your merits as both a comic, writer, and commentator. Just go to a decent school
 
Taken from Psychedelic Ideas and Revelations Inaction:

Originally Posted by Roger&Me :
I think the most important thing is that we make legitimate people out of ourselves, and strive to better ourselves through legitimate and accepted means. Getting a good education is really important in this regard: you are many times more likely to be taken seriously if you are educated, this is a fact. Also I think its important to get involved with legitimate organizations, your unique perspective on an issue could be a turning point in the direction an organization takes especially if you've gained peoples respect and they respect your ideas.
Click to expand...

GL.
 
mami said:
Right.. And this will probably be done at some random 4A.M.
Click to expand...

Huh?

Its not complicated. Either a person has the potential for greatness that can be fulfilled, or they don't. If they do, then quit dicking around and fulfill it already; that's all I'm saying. A person doesn't "become a writer"; either they write or they don't. And if they write, they're either saying something or its just words.

Going to school for writing seems like a crappy use of time and money to me, because you'll just end up getting snagged by the humanities circle-jerk that forcefully stifles creativity. I say, if you're actually worth a damn as a writer, then show that to the world. Sit down and write the next classic! But you're never going to do that if you don't have anything to say, and cloistering yourself in a university environment will only obscure your vision. It has to be inside of you, it has to be you, or you'll never say anything worth a damn; no matter how much education you get, or how many other people's writing you read.

Basically, I'm saying if you're a writer-- then write. Most professors are wankers anyways and can't help you, especially English professors. They just sit around and wack each other off all day long, and never accomplish anything, and essentially get paid to do what other people do in their leisure time. If you avoid these people like the plague, then maybe they'll be sitting around wacking it to one of your novels some day. If you get caught up in their game, though, you'll always be wacking it-- perpetually beating off to more talented people's creativity.

I say fuck that, just FUCK IT man ya know? Extricate yourself from that mediocre shit and EXPLODE with the force an atomic bomb and spray your creative output into the world's face unapologetically. IMO, what you need to be doing is getting laid, ie writing from the depths of your being as an outlet for the beauty that lays dormant within you. If you're not doing that, you're just wasting your limited amount of time and spraying your jizz in places where fertilization cannot occur, and letting all of humanity down in the process by depriving us of the fruits of your talent.

Anyways, this is just my opinion. I might get flamed for laying it all on the table, but I don't care. I've just come to realize that 90% of college/university is bullshit put in place to benefit the university and the professors, not to truly foster the growth of the students. People need to tell professors to fuck off more often, especially the ones that don't actually do anything but read the same shit over and over. That's not academia, that's just a book club. For the life of me, I can't understand why that crap is still being pandered to.

I would like to apologize if I have offended anyone, I realize that my view can't be voiced without doing so. That wasn't my intention, and I mean no disrespect to any individual person.
 
Roger&me to which you ask "Huh?" I was simply saying that writing happens spontaneously.

I don't see why you'd get flamed. I think what you say is really becoming/has become common knowledge in a sense.

Incidentally, in my above post I X-posted a quotation by YOU yet it seems to come from a totally different place than the thoughts you have given here. Not necessarily contradictory statements, but if you could elaborate that'd be cool.
 
You can do both my man...many a writer began his or her working career as a teacher, and so can you! In today's economy, it would be foolish to tell you to drop everything and focus only on your writing. If you have talent, it will shine through...best of luck.
 
Tide yourself over with the sure thing job and work at the dream job on the side; it will take you longer, but given how difficult it is to break into writing--which takes skill, luck, and most of all persistence--you could use the security.
 
Okay here is my take on this.

Earlier this year i was talkin about doing accounting, law all that shit cuz it was a "sure thing job" ... fuck all that shit now. I am 1 year done with accounting and I'm moving to norcal or boulder to work with MMJ... yeah its alot more work... i need alot more money... and i need a solid plan to be successfull....

But you gotta do what you gotta do to be happy in life...

I agree with Deadhead........ Life is too short to sttle for anything less

EDIT: i do have a semi-secure thing as a backup though. but if i knew what i wanted to do truly forever sooner, i woulda done it sooner.
 
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