Here I am a year later again: Can I finish my art degree despite my $100k debt?

Parent Cafe
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I don’t know if this is a great inspirational piece for you since this person went to one of the best public art schools in the country, but it is possible to pursue art at places with much lower tuition than the private colleges of art.

https://medium.com/@noahbradley/how-i-became-an-artist-4390c6b6656c#.ld8qhr37r

Check all your in-state university options. There could be a great art department in some out of the way campus where you least expect it.

I would suggest continuing your studies where you can and how you can, because it calls to you. As far as earning an income later goes: you need to think about commercial art of some sort if you want a paycheck. You can also look for a low-stress job that brings in a paycheck and supplement your income from that with your art. Or, do what the above guy did and become an art teacher as well as an artist. (Actually, he’s got quite the good thing going selling art how-to videos: the computer gives the lesson over and over and he just collects the tuition now that the lessons are filmed.)

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You gave us a lengthy list of problems and reasons as to why you can’t be an artist. Clear up that list first. Focus on solving those problems before you even consider pursuing art.Get healthy and strong. And forget about debt. Really. Art is tough and not for the weak or faint-hearted. Get busy on your well being and the other stuff will fall into place.

Again: forget about the debt. You already have more than you can take on.

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musica–you left out a major puzzle piece.
The reason for so much stress and many of the health problems MAY be that art is being ignored and belittled as a viable job avenue.

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How many classes away from an associates degree are you?

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Sell your art on Etsy.
Get a therapist.
Work at Walmart and save money for now (you’ll resume everything later). Pay some of that debt off.
You may want to get a college degree via a legitimate online program and take a few classes a semester
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees-and-certificates
This would only take 18 months and would make use of your artistic, creative skills:
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/online-certificate-website-design-development
It’d likely lead to a part time job where you can build your resume.

Other certificates and degrees you can get for now:
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/online-certificate-information-technology
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/online-certificate-homeland-security-management
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/online-certificate-instructional-technology-design
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/online-certificate-graphics-design-digital-imaging
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/online-certificate-computer-science
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/online-certificate-data-telecommunications
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/online-degree-associates-information-technology

Is that perfect?
No, but it’d lower your stress level. You’d make regular money, take (boring) classes that lead to better pay. You’d take care of your mental health. You’d use ar as therapy. You’d continue your art and would start selling it. You’d start feeling better.
All of these would lead to a more stable career. Having a well-paid job while you sell your art would calm your anxieties.
In turn you could try for this:
http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/online-degree-bachelor-arts-administration
which would make use of your art background.
Once your life is no longer plagued by anxiety and stress and lack of money, you could resume your art studies. But you can’t, at this point, take on more debt and continue sinking in depression and anxiety. Get better, get money, THEN get back to art.

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Mass Art is a public school.

I also went back and read the older thread. One of my kids had similar medical issues (though not psychiatric) and is doing well now. It is dififcult but not impossible to unravel. The old thread listed quite a few meds and I was concerned that you might be dealing with side effects of meds, which then require another med, then side effects of that one and so on.

Have you seen a really good migraine specialist? PM me. I am in your state and can give you some names. Migraines, seizures, depression/bipolar disorders, anxiety and panic attacks may all be related on a brain basis. From reading your posts I would guess a mood stabilizer plus an antidepressant might work for you. Lamictal would be perfect but you wrote you were getting off it last year. Esophagitis is linked to food allergies: is that still going on?

Do you have accommodations when you are in school? This is important with migraines. And get tuition refund insurance if you can, if you do attend.

If you got into RISD I am impressed. I know many young artists who went to Mass Art and that is a great school as well.

There are other schools you could look at, like Bennington, Vassar, Sarah Lawrence, that might give more financial or merit aid-? Lesley in Cambridge has moved its Art Institute: they have an adult learner program with some aid. They also have expressive arts and holistic psychology. Goddard or Union Institute are alternatives, the first involving two stays on campus per year and the latter available online. Smith and Wellesley have special programs for older students, with residence on campus. I am just saying, there are other options, but acquiring any more debt has to be avoided.

You could also continue to work and take just one class at a time in an adult learner program. That might satisfy your craving for art education while allowing you to continue payments. Stick your toe in and see how you feel. It gives you a feeling for the future, that you are moving forward, but doesn’t rack up costs and allows you to still work.

If you do stick with the medical field’s reliable salaries, there are less stressful ways to be a nurse than hospital work. There are also careers like PT assistant, that can eventually lead to a PT degree. OT might be even better for an artist. Community colleges have OT assistant degrees that are two years. Art therapy doesn’t pay great money, I would think, but certainly would combine your interests.

Also, if you are a really good PCA with experience you can make $25 an hour doing private work. This might work great with school because you can set your own schedule.

I wish you had someone close to advise you. Ping ponging back and forth between the twin poles of nursing and art is not going to be helpful. I say take an art class for credit, one class, and continue working in the health care field. Things will become clear.

Perhaps in the end you will decide to do art outside of school. Join a cooperative, live in an artists’ residence, work with a gallery, live in an artsy town or area. If you don’t go to school for art ultimately, for degree, you can always take classes and workshops. Our local art association has all kinds of workshops for established artists.

I don’t know the situation with your loans and how much help you have. Don’t acquire more. Work for money and work toward a degree at a pace you can afford. The degree can be art, or anthropology for all I care: the degree gives access to jobs. Consider other practical two year degrees if you need money NOW.

Meditate on the idea of sequencing. You cannot do it all now, but you can do everything you want over time.

I suspect your psychiatric problems are partly dictated by physiology and hope they are improving and that you get properly diagnosed and treated. I also hope your meds are simplified. Good luck.

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@gouf78 The biggest part of the puzzle is ----what exactly does the op mean by “being a professional artist”? Does she live in a market where any of that is possible? Painting? Sculpture? Commercial art? Plein Aire? Knitting? Ceramics? What exactly are we talking about? Commercial art? Manga? By the time you are 27 you should be getting pretty specific. Especially when you are considering more debt. And of course-- your long list of goals and qualifications should not be your physical maladies. No one is sick BECAUSE they can’t do art.

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Working as an artist is not going to be the silver bullet to make your unhappiness go away. You will just find something else to blame.

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I take an art class once a week. I have no ability and take it at a senior center. Recently we had a two week break and I swear I got depressed! I work with hospice locally and art is a big part of the therapy offered. Doing art really does help mood. But note, it can be a class once a week!

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I’d look into the marketability of various majors and chose one that is likely to yield full time stable employment. Art won’t and pretending it will may contribute to a life time of struggle beyond what you have already experienced. Art therapy at a BA level is also not realistic. A teaching degree would be a very realistic possibility though.

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Any degree including art. Major and career don’t have to match. Work while doing it. With debt burden, a two year degree with practical, direct entry to job is also a way to go.

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@intparent "I think you need a therapist "

I have been in weekly therapy and have also done a one month “partial hospitalization program.” This feeling of being a working missing from my life and not pursuing it as a career has always been the number one thing I’ve returned to.
Right now, my thinking is that an art education would be an avenue for me to improve my art in order to make a living as a working artist. So, my goal for wanting to go back to MassArt to finish a degree is many: wanting to improve my art and find a direction and improve my art to a professional and marketable level through specialized classes that I have not seen offered anywhere else except through art school; make connections with working artists, employers, and peers; as well as to actually finish my degree, because I hate the fact that I have “missed out” on not finishing it. But I also feel that the accomplishment of actually having a degree would bring me so much joy.
@HRSMom “The thing you seem unable to reconcile is that you need an income to survive, and that means a job, BC frankly, most BFAs don’t make a “living” at their art. They have related field jobs that pay the bills.”
My peers who graduated art school are working places like Google, Pixar, America’s Test Kitchen, Hasboro, Harmonix, been published in multiple national magazines and are the brand artists for companies you see every day… just to name a few. Perhaps that is unachievable for me. They have, after all, been out of school for 4.5 years. Additionally, maybe that’s not the path I want to take. I need to think longer about it. My point is, generalizations are not always true and it doesn’t mean that you need another whole different job like I’ve been trying to assume for the last seven years.

“It sounds like things are getting better and you should stick with your life as it is.”

The only thing that has gotten better is that I got away from the severe abusive home environment. I have worked on it in therapy even when I was with them and it has done wonders to help me heal, move on, have healthier views of myself, etc. (Yes, my mom is helping me pay my loans, and we do have an okay relationship a lot of the time, but from my dad, he tried smothering me to death with a pillow when I was three, I’ve been come at with knives, beat up, kicked around, witnessed my dad trying to choke my mom to death, been choked by my dad myself, but honestly the verbal abuse has been so much worse and broke my spirit. As crazy as that all sounds and this will sound, I didn’t admit to myself until I finally told someone what was going on (friends) that I had suffered abuse all my life- in 2014, at the age of 25 - I somehow normalized it in my head).

I thought I needed to finish school to do get away from home. Now that I have managed to do that without that, which I didn’t think would happen, I want to pursue art as a career because still the other pieces of the puzzle were leaving me extremely depressed that left me tied to home longer in the first place.

@Neodymium “however, you really need to just get to the source of what those issues are and resolve them before you make any other decisions.”

Like I said, art school is what I keep coming back to time and time again. It ties into all the things you listed. However, I was diagnosed with all of my mental health conditions shortly after leaving art school and my life completely changing. Furthermore, they got worse once I attended nursing school and got further away from art and who I felt I truly am. Of course, I’m not looking for therapy here. I’m going to talk more in depth about this in therapy.

@compmom “One of my kids has severe migraines. During high school they were daily, and the migraines were a major obstacle during college until she found the right med. Make sure you are registered with the disabilities office and have accommodations. I sincerely hope you have found the right med. For her, it was Lamictal.”

I am on Lamictal still for mood stabilization. I went up to 500mg for migraines but am down to 200mg because it didn’t work. My psychiatrist still wants to take me off of it, but I’m not sure that he will. I’m on Gabapentin 2100mg now plus B2, Topamax 200mg, I get Occipital Nerve Blocks, and am shortly going to be starting Botox.

@aunt_bea “If you are really driven, why are you not selling your art with the same passion?”
I need to make more art that’s current to the same level of finish I used to make it and feel it is not to the calibar of professional art. Honestly, I already know my art won’t sell. I am going to start working at it. This thread has revitalized me and shown me that the time to start being a “professional artist” - well, I don’t have to wait for art school - it could be now. I thank you all greatly for that.

“Great, but why are you living in the past? You expect that his art authority will make you “famous”?”
No, I am just trying to say that I believe I have the ability to make it as an artist, currently, because of his past remarks. Of course I know that I have to put the work in currently to make that a reality. I look back with much regret that I’m not currently a working artist.

"How would you set yourself up to do art? You’re in debt, how would you pay for a gallery with such poor credit? "

This is proposing that is what I would do with art. I need to think more deeply about what road I would take as a professional artist. I have the drive to learn all aspects of the business. I just would need to do the research. I understand that to make the money I need to put the work in.

@sax “What are you currently doing for health insurance? What is your plan for health insurance in the near future?”

I would keep the current job that I have.
@thumper1 “This is true. But MassArt does not meet full need…at all. The OP would get whatever amount of the Pell grant to which he or she is entitled, and a $10500 Direct Loan ($6500 as a junior plus $4000 additional for being independent)
Not sure taking an additional $10,000 in loans is a good idea.
Plus will the amount of Pell, and the Direct Loan amount fully fund MassArt? I don’t think so when you did in living expenses…and things like art supplies.”

Thank you so much for showing me the facts and figures for MassArt. The only way that I am getting out without that amount of loans or more is if I am able to finish my nursing degree at my local CC. Otherwise, there is no way for me to get any degree to get me a well paying career job without that amount of loans. I live about 45 minutes away from MassArt but I would be willing to get up at the crack of dawn to commute to Boston by train (Um, need to figure out the specifics on the feasability of this - otherwise, woud be willing to move closer). I’d keep my current job.

@gouf78" So get to work selling your art. That is a job in itself. It’s not just being an artist; it’s being a business person.

Do it. On-line, locally, at galleries, week ends at the park selling or doing quick sketches for quick money, craft fairs, exhibitions. whatever. Try it out. Gotta start somewhere. You’ll make mistakes but that’s the price of learning a new business. Doing art takes talent; selling it takes some business savvy.
Nobody but YOU is stopping you from pursuing your dream whether you go for it in a big way …"
Since it’s going to take me time to pay a few things off before I’d even have the option of returning to MassArt, I think this is hands down some of the best advice that is echoed in the thread but also gives concrete examples for how I can do it. This was such an inspiring post for me. THANK YOU so much <333 Seriously, can’t thank you enough.

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@tusconmom “You already have the equivalent in loans of a HOUSE (in certain parts of the country - definitely not in California, though). $118,000 is a LOT of money for 2 years of college and you’d still have 2 years to go.”

Actually, it’s for 4.5 years, but I definitey am aware of this on a daily basis. :confused: As someone calculated, it would be $10,000 more to take out in loans for MassArt, and I would actually have to do that even to finish a non-nursing degree, anyway. (ie, 13 more classes in psychology, or a 13 week “bootcamp” for a CS engineer). I’ve tried contemplating the art on the side for so long, tried it, and it’s only bringing me misery. Hence the post.

“Ok, I went and read the older thread that was posted above. If your depression issues remain as severe as they were a year ago, then stop focusing on art as a profession and use it as a therapeutic outlet.”

It’s gotten much, much better but I still have a long, long way to go. Much of my art is used nowadays for an outlet. Thank you.

@AroundHere “I don’t know if this is a great inspirational piece for you since this person went to one of the best public art schools in the country, but it is possible to pursue art at places with much lower tuition than the private colleges of art.”

I actually went to RISD with Noah for a year and took a class with him. He transferred in with me. He left because of the money, yes. With your opening sentence I knew it was his artice. I am very aware of his career path and everything. I tweet him from time to time but haven’t stayed in close contact with him. He is/was a very kind person with a lot of insight in crits even in school - perhaps I could take his class (oh the irony lol) but he is definitely an amazing artist. He built up his fanbase over years through facebook so it would take a very long time and a lot of skill for me to do the same but he certainly has an amazing business model and I am so very proud and happy for his success!! When I announced on facebook that I had to leave RISD over the summer, he commented how that didn’t mean I had to stop being an artist. I often think about the different career paths we took (told him this). He didn’t give up on art, and look at him now? I wasted my time and did give up.

@gouf78 “@musica–you left out a major puzzle piece.
The reason for so much stress and many of the health problems MAY be that art is being ignored and belittled as a viable job avenue.”

EXACTLY. THANK YOU. This has brought me only but sadness throughout so many years. My ex of four years pushed and pushed me towards nursing, which I have loved because I have a tremendous heart for people, but I struggled with because he always reminded me of my debt and that I could never really be a working artist, putting it down even. It was like that with many I talked to and just furthered my despair. Of course, I can’t blame other people. It is my own personal failure that I allow other people to dictate my life so much and allow their opinions to affect me so deeply. I am still working on this.

@sax “How many classes away from an associates degree are you?”

It depends on the associate degree. Nursing - I have two semesters left, but for so many reasons it is not a good option for me, I strongly feel. For “general studies,” I could finish in one semester, with courses that I barely have to put any effort into. For a 13 week bootcamp, it would be just that. It allows you to learn enough to get hired directly after and make a ~$60k salary. But I would still face the same unhappiness issue, and since it is an unkown variable about me having only done some programming, I would rather not add another education or career of me starting and not finishing something to the list? For others, I have so many credits, so I assume not very long, unless I switched drastically, ie to computer science- which is something I’m considering, if not the bootcamp.

@MYOS1634 “Once your life is no longer plagued by anxiety and stress and lack of money, you could resume your art studies. But you can’t, at this point, take on more debt and continue sinking in depression and anxiety. Get better, get money, THEN get back to art.”

Thank you for all of the links to the degrees. Many of those, except for the art (unfortunately) are offered at my CC. I will have to look into these.

@compmom “Have you seen a really good migraine specialist? PM me. I am in your state and can give you some names. Migraines, seizures, depression/bipolar disorders, anxiety and panic attacks may all be related on a brain basis. From reading your posts I would guess a mood stabilizer plus an antidepressant might work for you. Lamictal would be perfect but you wrote you were getting off it last year. Esophagitis is linked to food allergies: is that still going on?”

Yes, I am seeing a neurologist and the New England Regional Headache center. But I am very open to second (third, fourth…) opinions. I will PM you. I got esophagitis one more time since, but never got an endoscopy so it remains unexplained. I have GERD but it’s unexplained and am not sure if it needs an explanation for cause? I hate my PCP honestly because literally everything physical problem he says I need to talk to my psychiatrist for.

“And get tuition refund insurance if you can, if you do attend.”

How do I go about that?

“Also, if you are a really good PCA with experience you can make $25 an hour doing private work. This might work great with school because you can set your own schedule.”

Right now, I make up to $18.50/hour. I could probably make more in Boston but I’m in central MA right now. My boss says she’d hire me right away nursing school when I graduate and I always get glowing reviews so that is an option.

“I suspect your psychiatric problems are partly dictated by physiology and hope they are improving and that you get properly diagnosed and treated. I also hope your meds are simplified. Good luck.”

Not sure about the physiology part? When I was initially diagnosed, my potassium level was 2.6 and all of my labs were so off it was crazy, but they immediately put me on psych meds rather than investigated more. Ever since I’ve been treated psychiatrically. Who really knows at this point. But I’m on a buttload of meds still.

“Perhaps in the end you will decide to do art outside of school. Join a cooperative, live in an artists’ residence, work with a gallery, live in an artsy town or area. If you don’t go to school for art ultimately, for degree, you can always take classes and workshops. Our local art association has all kinds of workshops for established artists.”

Those are all wonderful suggestions :smiley: I looked into a local art “school” (not a college, but they offer classes), and I am now considering taking a low cost ($100) class or at least dropping in for some figure drawing ($15!)

@musicmusica “By the time you are 27 you should be getting pretty specific.”

I wish I could say that, but so much of my energy has been devoted to nursing and schooling in other areas, putting art to the side (who has time in nursing school?) and not even considering it as a viable career option, that I would have to think longer about it now. But I was majoring in Illustration, was considering many things (band posters, cd covers, book covers, etc), video games, movies. I love painting and drawing. So those are what I do.

@GMTplus7 “Working as an artist is not going to be the silver bullet to make your unhappiness go away. You will just find something else to blame.”

Sure, it will not make my life perfect. But I hope it would lift my depression greatly and certainly remove the literal crisis that I have every month, every week, or more, and therefore be something I can work at other than wonder about for the rest of my life.

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@mirrortothemoon
Yes, that is what I meant. Lots of ways to get where you want to be. That debt is crushing tho. So think hard about getting there that way. Can you finish your BFA a few credits at a time, pay as you go? In my view, you need to accept life as it is, but have a way to your future you can see clearly. That will likely help your anxiety/depression if you can see where life is going and it is going in the right direction.

Also, you can shelve it for now, take a few classes. Pay off the debt and go back later. Pick an age, say 35. Then plan how to get the $ you need by then. Take back control! Good luck. You seem like you are aware of and dealing with your issues, which is the best starting point. Good luck!

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@Mirrortothemoon.
Thank you for answering everyone’s questions and responding to their thoughts.

So you are a HS graduate with some college working a ( full time?) job in a hospital which pays $18.50 an hour ($37,000 full time) and offers health insurance. They are aware of your health issues and still find you a very good employee. You have a boyfriend/roommate to share costs and a safe environment to live. You have no children.

In all honesty, you have already hit the artist jackpot. I assume other than work your time is your own.

Look,you need health insurance so you need to keep your job. That’s the reality of being an adult. It sucks but that’s all there is to it. Yes, it’s depressing as hell.

We would all love a do over in life where we get to make different decisions and be better off. But we don’t get do overs. We just all have to move forward in a positive way to get to our goals.

You are going to have to come to terms with that. Then you can throw yourself into your art the rest of the time.

Health first.

And just so you know, I get it. I have an amazingly talented art kid with a health problem that couldn’t get through college either. She lived the life of a poor artist working lousy jobs to have the freedom to do her art. Health care costs forced her to finally get that full time job with health insurance and a retirement account… That is her reality. She works two jobs both art related but not what she really wants to do. She has to do that in her free time. Not what she wants but that’s her reality. And she doesn’t have any school loans. She does have health care costs which are hefty. That’s why she works the second job.

I don’t see anyway around it except for magical thinking. Sorry.

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The unfortunate truth is that most artists, historically, are either independently wealthy, supported by a spouse, working on something they don’t particularly like but that pays well, or living in poverty. If you think the depression is bad now, wait until you have health issues AND crippling debt that is current (rather than just looming in the future). Passions generally diminish when you have to live in poverty to realize them. Sometimes, you have to do something you don’t want to be able to live the life you want to live. Maybe that involves doing art-related work for your job, maybe it doesn’t. It probably won’t be a dream job though.

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Let me add that the job my art kid has has a minimum graphic design bachelors degree requirement. She turned that job down twice but they kept coming back with a better offer and better benefits.Her computer art skills are self taught and awesome. Skills she picked up while living the life of a poor artist.

My point is she got this job without the degree.

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Health insurance is no longer a problem after the affordable care act, right? In Massachusetts, Medicaid was extende t higher incomes than previously, and there is an exchange where you can purchase plans with a subsidy if your income is too high for Medicaid but still meets guidelines.

For GERD that might be esophagitis, try using a Flovent (inhaled steroid) inhaler by squirting in mouth/throat, swiching with small amount of water, and swallowing. Also, long term use of Prilosec and Zantac creates GERD. Getting off takes a few weeks and during that time you experience the worst GERD ever, due to rebound. So every time you try to get off you think it is so bad that you have to stay on.

The New England Headache Center is in Worcester, right? Has he suggested Diamox? I am assuming you have tried Depakote. Topamax is a bit superfluous if you find a drug that works. And Gapabentin helps anxiety, sometimes helps with migraines. But I think you are on too many meds, honeslty, and wonder how they are affecting you.

Anyway, clearly you need to address the need to do art, which is haunting you. People have suggested various ways to do this. You started off on a prestigious path at RISD and then an engaging, more affordable path at Mass Art and it is psychologically difficult to start with high expectations and then not meet them. Many artists (and others) deal with this. NO MATTER WHAT, you can continue art, Believe it. Here are suggestions that have been made on this forum:

  1. Go back to Mass Art, which means $10k more in debt but you finish sooner and can get to whatever career you want to settle in.
  2. Get a BFA or BA in art one class at a time, at an art school, or university, possibly through an adult learner or degree completion program.- at an affordable program.
  3. Finish nursing degree and work at the higher wage that results, while doing the above for art.
  4. Do some other practical two year degree at community college or finish an AA and then work, continue art classes or art practice.
  5. Do nursing or some other career that will help with loans and do art on the side, developing business skills as well. This can include belonging to art associations, group classes, teaching, showing wherever you can, and so on.
  6. Just want to add that you may be able to apply for grants, residencies, funded programs for art projects and programs, regardless of what you do.

You may not feel this way, but you are young and have plenty of time for these various paths to unfold. It will be alright. Forgive yourself for the physical and mental health issues that have been obstacles-not your fault- and continue moving beyond the family issues as you can.

Remember that the majority of college students do not go to college in the traditional way. It might help you to be in a multiage program with many whose stories are complex and whose struggles are similarly difficult. That is certainlyan argument for adult learner programs (Lesley, Goddard etc.). Good luck!

ps editing to add that state colleges and universities might also be options; UMass Dartmouth has an interesting artisan program…

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Also- sorry it’s early- remember that degree and major do not have to determine career. You can major in art and then not depend on art to earn a living. You can work at another kind of job and the training will be valuable in your continued art outside the job, as well as give you skills and qualifications for other kinds of work.

And look into areas of nursing that would be less stressful. One woman I know runs her own therapy business with a nursing degree. You can be entrepreneurial with nursing as well.

Also look into debt forgiveness programs, that usually involve public service. This could involve nursing, but it could also involve art. Your biggest problem is that debt. Otherwise you could just finish art school and go on to a funded grad program. Check into ways to reduce the debt. Teaching is certainly one and you could do that for art.

http://www.studentdebtrelief.us/forgiveness/obama-student-loan-forgiveness/
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service
https://www.pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/loan-forgiveness/index.shtml
https://www.edvisors.com/repay-student-loans/federal/cancel/forgiveness/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/09/06/student-loan-forgiveness-options/2776545/
also read this: http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertfarrington/2015/01/12/the-dangers-of-student-loan-forgiveness/#2a43c1076434

I say go for it, pursue art in whatever way works for you. Don’t put pressure on art to support you though: the pressures of the marketplace can influence art in negative ways, at least at first. Get a degree, look into the best way to handle the debt and move forward. (And health insurance should NOT be a problem. If you go to school part-time you don’t have to pay for the school’s plan either.)

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Compmom. The ACA has some serious drawbacks . My d lived it for 2 years.But yes, it is an option just not the best option for people with health issues.