<p>(and yes, i know there are some four year degrees in it, and careers...just wondering how realistic and wise it is?)</p>
<p>my #2 son is quite interested in photography. very good with the technical knowledge, as well as the aesthetics of quality work. he is not THE academic student. very good at what he is interested in....photography, wine making, guitar, crew/rowing...</p>
<p>LD, dyslexic. 3.05 gpa at best, a junior, so no test scores yet. will get extra time on act.</p>
<p>Anyway, just beginning to walk down this road as we just got through with number 1 son graduation from HS.</p>
<p>THoughts? ideas? anyone been here?</p>
<p>My S has some LD issues but excels at what he excels at so he is a junior at a 4 year college of visual and performing arts.</p>
<p>This is anecdotal but I know photographers that do well on a full time or part time basis buts it’s mostly freelance work. I have a family member that went to a prestigious and expensive university for photography that now has a home in LA and an apartment in Manhattan. She travels the world and lives a busy and successful life as a photographer.</p>
<p>As a parent that is sending a kid to college to work as a freelancer - aka no steady paycheck or benefits - I hear your concern in your question.</p>
<p>To really be a photographer, you need training to develop a high level of excellence. To be successful, you need to hustle and accept the instability of a job ending and not knowing what or when the next job will come. It takes years to build a name and reputation and portfolio that keeps the phone ringing constantly.</p>
<p>It is worth it to the truly committed, to the entrepreneurial spirit and to the daring to go for it. </p>
<p>99% of parents just want their kids to get a good job and benefits. And why send a kid to college to work for himself? To spend all that money and not get a paycheck at the end of 4 years. Why?</p>
<p>Richard Branson, a famous billionaire and dyslexic, left school at 15 and ultimately bought or started over 300 businesses. He said his dyslexia helped teach him to hustle, to talk his way in and out of stuff and to try again and again whenever he failed. If you have to look at your child and ask yourself, how would he do if his life was behind a desk, doing mundane tasks, following company regulations and rules and having a boss always demanding more of it versus a life making a living (a grand living or a modest living) doing what he already loves to do over the next 50 years?</p>
<p>That’s how we made our decision. We are learning about the freelance life so we can better support and guide him even though we have no direct experience in that world. It seems exciting but it also seems like there are many side distractions that can derail what could be a great freelance career. No different than a mass layoff can disrupt a once great job.</p>
<p>One additional comment @nettiK4137 , developing a quality portfolio and visiting a National Portfolio Day with your son could give you insight into your son’s potential as a photographer along with some college ideas.</p>
<p>Sending your son to photography classes on the weekend and at night will help you gauge his interest and commitment to it as well.</p>