Really Could Use Some Advice

[mbdblue]

So Im goin to school for a BA in industrial design...if you dont know what it is, basically its the design of anything and everything from a fork to a yacht. My workload is anywhere from 30 sketches a week+30-40 hours on photoshop/ 3D programs to 50-60 sketches and 50-60 hours on the computer. Its the average sophomore workload for my school (yeah they dont believe in sleep or uh....breathing). But Ive always been more hands on, (build my own sub boxes, glassing panels, etc.) and I love it. about 30% is making an actual model which isnt great for someone hands on like me.

All thats gonna happen from here is the hours of sketches and computer work will go up. But this week I reached my breaking point. I really have a problem with staring at a computer for 10 hours a night. Not to mention hands on work is so different....your hands can never tell you an action failed, they cant go into "not responding" when your trying to save. Ive always loved car audio and fabrication/customization since I got a car when I was 15....6 years ago. But my past experiences working for an audio shop was probably one of the worst memories I have.

If you ask me straight up if someone offered me a job to work for alpine or MTX or pioneer to build show cars, I wouldnt think twice about moving wherever they needed me. I would love to learn as much as possible and build as much as possible. But there are many factors that are holding me back. The most important being a living. I dont know if I can actually make a decent living off of doing it. I dont need to be rich. But I dont want to be balancing whether or not I buy that sundown 3000.1, or food for the next couple weeks haha. I know it takes alot of work and years of experience to become a show car builder, especially for big companies like those; but I think that if I got the right job to put down those years, I would love doing it.

With any of your experience with anything, any advice you guys could give on whether or not I should really finish this semester and transfer into a Mobile tech school or Wyotech would be great. The way I wrote it makes it sound black and white and an obvious decision. But please keep in mind this would be my second time transfering. Guess you could say it makes me feel like a failure. That I cant go to a school for 4 years. I have very high expectations for myself and if they arent met, it tends to hit me pretty hard.

[KWP369]

nothing beats satisfaction imo... so i would say go where ur happy... but i understand where ur comin boud makin a living so i really can't help u but if u could get hired on wit alpine or pioneer then that would be great... but like i said i would go where i'm happy

[mbdblue]

yeah man I hear ya. I wish it could be that cut and dry. Just think of how great it would be if we could all do what we love and be able to support ourselves and our families.

[KWP369]

thats why i joined the military.... i still get to work on computers like want too... and i make a great living straight out of highschool

[Shyne151]

Didn't read your whole post... but i see you goto school in detroit... LTU? I got accepted to LTU... but it didn't really seem like a fun place to be...

College sucks. plain and simple. fight your way thru it. I'm going for computer science... my junior and sophmore years SUCKED. But now it's not bad at all. You don't want to goto school at wyotech or a mobile dynamics... you've already started and are half way thru a bachelors... finsih it up man, you won't enjoy it now... but once you graduate I guarantee you will.

Do what I did... you like working on cars and doing decently high end installs. Get a part time job at a shop while you're going to school. I work thursday afternoon, all day friday, and all day saturday at a shop. One way to put it is when I goto work it's relaxing compared to going to school and writting code all day

Edited March 26, 2008 by Shyne151

[maademperor]

^what he said.

besides, you are pursuing a degree in industrial design, key word is design. Not engineering. As a designer, you have to do all of that ground planning to get to a point where the engineers can start building your creation, a handful of sketches aint gonna do it. if you dont want to spend that kind of time on those activities I'd suggest switching your focus...you will just have a job that you hate designing forks

[Godsmack]

thats why i joined the military.... i still get to work on computers like want too... and i make a great living straight out of highschool

Great is an overstatement

depending on where u live u might be struggeling, other places u might be just fine..........REALLY depends man TONS of variables

J

Edited March 26, 2008 by Godsmack

[trainman0978]

Didn't read your whole post... but i see you goto school in detroit... LTU? I got accepted to LTU... but it didn't really seem like a fun place to be...

College sucks. plain and simple. fight your way thru it. I'm going for computer science... my junior and sophmore years SUCKED. But now it's not bad at all. You don't want to goto school at wyotech or a mobile dynamics... you've already started and are half way thru a bachelors... finsih it up man, you won't enjoy it now... but once you graduate I guarantee you will.

Do what I did... you like working on cars and doing decently high end installs. Get a part time job at a shop while you're going to school. I work thursday afternoon, all day friday, and all day saturday at a shop. One way to put it is when I goto work it's relaxing compared to going to school and writting code all day

Definitely stay where your at and finish up. all the computer work sounds like what my girl is going thru and went thru for her masters and previously her bachelors from Savannah College of Art and Design. It is work. But it will pay off in the long run. I think more than a wyotech or mobile dynamics education would. It is usually only one or two out of a big handful that gets a job with a super high shop profile or manufactures installer team job... Hell with your degree you stand a better chance of working for a factory team I think. Industrial design, damn ther is soo much you will be able to offer a potenial employer once you get out school, and the jobs should be yours to pick from. Just try a recover as much of your school work as you progress thru the classes and start creating a professional looking portfolio of what you are capable of so you will be able to show off your talents.

Several of Jess's classmates graduated from college and the professors kept some very impressive and not to mention very expensive art projects ( be it clothing designs, film work, photography ) that these kids can't get back now, and would have probably helped them get a job quicker. Once something is graded - get it back.

Edited March 26, 2008 by trainman0978

[NAH916]

You should definitely keep on going......finish it out and you will see the rewards. Both my boss and I have our Design degree's, and it has opened so many doors. It not bad when you can make $70k or more right out of college doing something you love (depending where you live).

[mbdblue]

Id love to get a part time job. But theres no way I would be able to with the workload I have. We work literally all the time. I had a granola bar to eat a couple days ago around noon....didnt eat again till around 2 or 3 am. got 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night....hour and a half night before that. Not your average school in the least. They get many different sponsors for projects like GM, toyota, Honda, Michelin, etc. so they want to keep there rep up.

I guess its more of a question of whether or not I should drag my ass through the rest of the 2 1/2 years and risk the fact that Im not sure whether or not I really want to basically spend 50-60 hours of work in front of a computer....not to mention that Ill probably be doing just that the next 40 years if I get into the field.

The other side is that I know I love audio, fiberglass, and building my own ideas. But I dont know if I should risk transfering out again for a career that may not be as secure as one I would get with this degree. Many have told me to do what makes me happy. But sometimes you cant. Look at all the cubicles. "Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements."