Help with big decision for DH

[gingerbane]

I need some good advice mamas. I'll try to keep it concise but it might get a little long.

DH and I both have college loans from our Bachelors Degrees (we were both English majors).

DH is currently working as a teacher (although he does not have a teaching degree) and I am a SAHM/doula. We live in a huge international city in Asia (think 24 million)

DH's job is offering a program to get a Masters in Education. The total cost is $18,000. to be paid in four payments of $4500. The program is a legitimate program through a University in Texas. It started Jan 08 and is slated to finish in July 2010.

Even though he does not want to be a teacher his entire life we both decided that the program would be a great opportunity that could at least offer us stability - He would be an actual certified teacher and therefore we would have a lot more range of jobs/locations to eventually settle.

We thought the program was also a good idea because it was a grad school program that DH could actually get into (albeit on a provisional basis). His g.p.a. from his B.A. is too low to be considered almost every other place we had looked. He is really smart - but he was just a slacker back then. Now he has a great work ethic.

Long story short, DH was accepted into the program, made the first payment, and received an 'A' in both of his first classes.

But..........DH just found out that there is a very prestigious character animation program (think Pixar) that he could take online. It's a very well known program with very high success rates and job placements of graduating students. The total cost of the program is almost $18,000.

He just told me last night that he found out about the program and he wants to do it instead. I know it isn't just "something that he wants to do for the heck of it." He has long been interested in animation and back in "the slacker days" attended a great Animation school in San Francisco. He wants to be an animator for the rest of his life. He has never said that about anything else before. Plus, I know he is good at animation.

I checked out the program and it is a very good program. It is a legitimate program and I feel very comfortable with the program itself. What I don't feel comfortable with however, is that we just made a payment of $4,500 for the M.Ed program. I'm also not too comfortable with the job security of animation. I'm not sure how steady the industry is. I know most of the jobs are on the west coast and I'm worried about a super high cost of living relative to the amount that he will be making as a beginner in the animation industry.

We talked about it and I feel like it would be best for our family if he finished the M.Ed and then did the animation school. In a way it sounds crazy to be paying for a degree that he really doesn't want to use (the M.Ed/teaching degree) but I feel very strongly about the job security that teaching offers. I told him that I didn't expect him to be a teacher forever and I didn't mind if he started the animation program as soon as he finished the M.Ed (summer 2010) but I'm not sure if that's the right way to go. I really don't want him to be a teacher forever. He's not really happy being a teacher and I like a happy DH.

So, what do we do?

- Forget about the M.Ed and the $4,500. and do the animation school
or
- Get the M.Ed and then pay another $18,000 for the animation school

HELP!!

[SleeplessMommy]

I think more and more of the computer animation is being done overseas - India for example... so the USA job market for that program could be very weak in the future, despite good results last year. The teaching cert is much more secure, assuming the program is accredited in the USA. (for example, can a grad of that program get a TX teaching job?)

With animation being all computerized these days, it may be possible to make demo videos with no school training... and to try to get employment in the field. I think it would make tons of sense to complete the teaching degree and then go for the animation - it might be possible for him to teach animation at a HS or trade school.

[EFmom]

I would do the education degree. Animators are being laid off in droves as the work is more and more outsourced. If he wants to do it at some point in the future he can.

[gingerbane]

Thank you for the replies so far ladies. The teaching program is completely accredited. Graduates will be able to get a TX teaching job or teaching job in another state depending on what needs to be done to transfer the degree from state to state. The M.Ed diploma won't even reflect the fact that it was obtained overseas. Professors from the Univeristy fly over here to teach the classes.

I really feel like the teaching thing is the right move to make and my husband agrees that it is the "safe" thing to do. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't somehow out of my mind to think that.

[SuzyLee]

The animation thing sounds like a long shot at best, and an expensive one at that.

I think your suggestions to him to finish what he started is a good one. If he wants to pursue animation at a later date, great.

[tricia80]

I would say finish the education degree... Animation may or may not be a good move and i would say there isn't as much stability....

[Oriole]

I'll say too many people are stuck doing what they don't love. So... instead of investing into a career he is not interested in (and by the way, I love teaching ), he should follow his passion and switch to animation.

18K is big money. I would not be spending it on a degree that I did not intend to use. I understand that it happens sometimes, but your husband is obviously one of the lucky people that knows what he wants to do with his life. I say support him in that, and both of you will be better off, financially and otherwise.

[ItsBasilThyme]

I would say stick with the education program. I worked for a very well known/respected animation school about 5 years ago - back then, it was almost impossible for the grads to get jobs. I'm sure it's worse now. Sure, they had great placement rates, but 99% of those "placed" actually did low paid grunt work, or unpaid internships for years before makng anything approaching a living wage. They talked a great game about how many grads went on to win huge awards for Disney and pixar, but they were so few percentage wise, you might as well plan to win the lottery. I'm not saying that the school he's looking at isn't good, but even the best schools just don't have demand for their grads. I'd be really skeptical of an online school that doesn't care about a poor undergrad GPA, too. Did they make him submit a portfolio for acceptance or require an in person interview? If not, I wouldn't even consider it.

[amandaleigh37]

I'll say too many people are stuck doing what they don't love. So... instead of investing into a career he is not interested in (and by the way, I love teaching ), he should follow his passion and switch to animation.

18K is big money. I would not be spending it on a degree that I did not intend to use. I understand that it happens sometimes, but your husband is obviously one of the lucky people that knows what he wants to do with his life. I say support him in that, and both of you will be better off, financially and otherwise.

I agree.

If you can afford to do both, and he is happy with that option, then I'd do that. But if he *must* choose one of the other, he should do what will make him happy. Life is too short.

[SuzyLee]

The life is too short, do what you lvoe arguement is great.... unless you actually need to put a roof over your family's head and food on the table.

Which isn't to say he shouldn't make a move to do something he likes *more* than teaching. But just because my dream job is to be the president, doesn't mean I should drop 18,000$ on campaign ads.

[Sarah8Jane]

I would do just what you recommended. Do both the M.ed plus the animation degree later. You never know how things may turn out - he could end up teaching animation...
My dh loves animals but he knew that animal control/range management wouldn't support a family so he got dual degrees in Computer Science and Animal/Range Conservation. Guess what he does now! He's a computer programmer for Fish and Game. It's his dream job because he gets out on the water often & it keeps a roof over our heads. The best of both worlds.

[Smithie]

If it was anything BUT animation, I'd be saying "switch" but... yeah, the market is changing so radically that I wouldn't be advising ANYBODY who wasn't 18 years old with no dependents to pursue higher education in animation right now. With an M.Ed., perhaps your dh can move into a non-classroom position within academia? Become an administrator?

[Sailor]

I think this depends. Will he resent doing the teaching thing? Will he be stuck in a job that he hates for the rest of his life? Will this cause anger, resentment, depression, unhappiness? Because that will affect his ability to be a good parent, spouse.

I think he could do animation, if he had a very real, concrete plan for finding a job afterwards. Has he done the market research on this? Spoken to people in the industry? Asked around about the jobs available and what he could conceivably get, right after finishing school?

I know security is important (obviously!). But, on the other hand, the flip side - being in a job you don't want WILL take a toll on a person's happiness, fulfillment, etc. It has the potential to lead to a lot of resentment and depression.

[Contrariety]

Originally Posted by EFmom

I would do the education degree. Animators are being laid off in droves as the work is more and more outsourced. If he wants to do it at some point in the future he can.

Yup. I know many animators from my area have had to get jobs in other fields.

[AuntNi]

I think there's an MDC mama whose DH is an animator. I can't remember for which company, but it was one of the biggies: Pixar or Dreamworks or Disney. I saw a post about it in the Books & Media forum. You might want to post there to see if she has any tips for your DH.

[RoundAbout]

I would go with the education degree for now as well. It is a great fall back career and something he could do well into old age (my uncle recently "retired" from his blue collar job to teach English overseas and is having a blast). It can also be readily combined with any field imaginable as every occupation needs teachers and trainers.

As others have pointed out, animation is not the most stable field right now. Also while I don't know much about the field, I am very suspicious of our society's notion that the best way to break into a career is to earn another degree. Maybe he should be developing his animation skills on his own, working on his portfolio, volunteering for projects, etc. He probably needs to talk to someone already working in animation to get advice before he signs up for another expensive degree program.

[Thystle]

Will you even be able to get back to the US for either type of job (dont know how you are in Asia or why)???


ANY tech job field in the US is hurting BAD and pretty much no one is paying relocation.