Going Back to School

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Hi Everybody! You all have been very helpful lately, so I figured I would run another question by you. I'm got a chance to go back to school in the fall. The VA is going to pay for it (I'm a veteran). I have narrowed it to a couple of choices. The VA won't pay just for anything, it has to be a skill I can get employment in afterward. So I was thinking about Horticulture or Cumputer Graphics, Multimedia. Two opposite ends of the spectrum. I have trouble making decisions, so I thought I would get you alls input. I love gardening and everyone seems to think I should take horticulture, but is there employment opportunies in this? I thought it would also be very useful as I am looking into future homesteading, and I'm kinda green on skills. Orginally I wanted to take only a mismash of homesteading skills, but the VA won't pay for that. Anyone have any input? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I'm only going to a two year school. But I will take other odds and ends later. Thanks!

-- Carolyn (sweetbabydill@yahoo.com), July 07, 2001

Answers

Take the Computer Multimedia course and you can always find work as a freelance consultant, giving you time for gardening. As an aside - rancers, gardeners, farmers, nursery folks and other horticulturalists all need computers, and the associated trained computer folks, to properly run their businesses. SOmeone who knows multi-media, and has specialized knowledge in horticultural businesses would carve out a mighty defensible niche for themselves. Take a few small business management courses and some marketing stuff and you'd make yourself pretty nigh indispensible to a decent population of small, Mom and Pop-type horit-folks who need this type of service. If you manage to dole out good gardening advice while you're "in the field", as it were, so much the better!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), July 07, 2001.

Carolyn, I am in the printing business, and would like to offer these suggestions if you are hoping to use a Multimedia degree in the printing world:

Typesetters and graphic artists in this area are generally a dime a dozen, especially if they do not know Mac formats. Believe it or not, the visual graphics and printing world are all on Mac, so knowing it is mandatory for that kind of work. I personally will not even talk to a designer or GA about doing freelance work for me if they aren't on Mac. I STRONGLY suggest you do some research by calling printers, artists, design studios, full service design houses, etc. Ask these folks what they would expect from you as far as schooling, experience, etc. Then ask them what they would pay per hour, provided they had an opening. I bet they will say 8 bucks an hour, and then cap out at 16 an hour, provided you are REAL good, after giving them half your life working for them.

Starting out, working for someone in the printing business, expect to answer alot of phones, make alot of coffee, serve as a gopher, and when you are at the computer, expect to spend long days setting boring forms and newsletters.

But, on the other hand, computer graphics can be a wonderful and lucrative field, if you are good and have an artistic flair. Printers, designers, companies, etc., etc., are always looking for GOOD GA's, and you can earn some pretty serious money, (30-50 an hour) if you work freelance. All the good GA's I know are freelancers, work at home, set thier own hours and drive nice cars.

I hope I haven't scared you to death or bored you to tears by telling you all this. I just wanted to share with you the realities if you want to use your Multimedia degree in the fine field of GA for the printing world.

-- clove (clovis97@Yahoo.com), July 08, 2001.


I concure with clove. I work at a newspaper and ALL production tasks are done on mac - not a pc of _any_ flavor in site.

x

-- x (xray@yahoo.com), July 08, 2001.


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