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Confused on what I want to be - need help choosing A-Levels!

Hi,

I need to have selected four, possibly five AS-Levels by December, and I'm stuck on what I should take. I have the oh-so-common problem of having no idea what I want to do with my life. Here's a list of possible things I would want to do:

Cartoonist
Animator
Video games artist/animator
Cake decorator
Writer
Book Reviewer
Graphic Designer
Book Illustrator
Photographer (preferably nature/food)

And the thing is, all of these careers sort of hang under the 'Art and Design' label, and I feel that these jobs won't be taken seriously and that I won't be well-off if I get into these fields. Another thing is that things such as animator and writer are VERY competitive, and I feel like I'll never do well in these fields. I'm very unconfident and I'm unsure of what A-Levels to take for any of these.
My first thoughts for A-Levels would be history, english lit (as universities love these two subjects), art and design and ict, but I'm still not sure.

Please help!
:confused:
Reply 1
I do History and it is a great subject. You should do subjects you enjoy as you don't want to have to study to a high level for 2 years a subject which isn't your favourite. A lot of my friends do Art, Photography, English Lit and History.
Original post by ClockworkPaws
Hi,

I need to have selected four, possibly five AS-Levels by December, and I'm stuck on what I should take. I have the oh-so-common problem of having no idea what I want to do with my life. Here's a list of possible things I would want to do:

Cartoonist
Animator
Video games artist/animator
Cake decorator
Writer
Book Reviewer
Graphic Designer
Book Illustrator
Photographer (preferably nature/food)

And the thing is, all of these careers sort of hang under the 'Art and Design' label, and I feel that these jobs won't be taken seriously and that I won't be well-off if I get into these fields. Another thing is that things such as animator and writer are VERY competitive, and I feel like I'll never do well in these fields. I'm very unconfident and I'm unsure of what A-Levels to take for any of these.
My first thoughts for A-Levels would be history, english lit (as universities love these two subjects), art and design and ict, but I'm still not sure.

Please help!
:confused:


Well, it's not that you won't be well-off in these fields. It's just that these fields are very competitive and it's not that easy to get a high-earning job related to them, unlike STEM careers where job growth is plenty and not many specialized people are available, unless you're great at what you do and are a very creative person full of ideas. It's a gamble so if you succeed, you can enjoy a very comfortable life along with a sense of fulfillment by loving what you do!
My father was a very average student at school and after finishing college, he spent three years at home not knowing what he wanted to do. He was a real good artist so one of his relatives suggested he go to a local art school. Now, keep in mind that we are Pakistanis and I'm not saying no artists exist there but tbh, it is the last thing someone would consider studying looking at it's economy. My father belonged to a lower-middle class family, too. Yet, my grandfather told my dad that he would enroll him there as long as he promises that he will work hard. My father did, studied Fine Art and he learned a lot. He had jobs even before graduating, which is something unusual. It was during the time the Apple computer was created and his boss liked him so much that he sponsored him in order to attend computer classes and learn how to use it and he did. His bosses loved him and tried to prevent him from leaving by offering him high salaries but my dad said he wanted to learn many things and not just get stuck doing the same work forever in the same place. He didn't really care about money (I wish he did lol) he worked at a lot of companies as the creative director and had a great salary with benefits and he was able to raise 4 kids very comfortably. We then shifted to another country because he got a job offer but unfortunately the company had to close it's branch due to recession yet my dad managed to open his own small advertising agency here and didn't have a problem getting clients because he made a lot of contacts with some big companies. The only drawback he has is that his conversational english isn't that good or else I really believe he can be so much more successful.
I'm sorry for the long paragraph but I'm not trying to toot my own horn by telling you how great my father is. I just think it's extremely inspiring and makes me believe that hard work and passion do pay off. If you think your heart is in it and you can work hard to prove yourself, go for it by all means and you can be well-off as well. You just need a lot of patience and don't go in it thinking you'll be a millionaire by the time you're 30! (however, that's not impossible either) I hope this even makes sense...
as for the A level subjects to choose, I say study Art and design, English and the other two don't exactly matter so choose anything you like. I think ICT is a completely useless subject if you think it'll give you technical knowledge because it's much more theoretical by nature unlike Computing. So if you want hands-on knowledge, choose computing. ICT is like basic knowledge you need in order to operate a computer. I assume you will study Fine Art at university (it's the best choice if you don't want to specialize in one particular creative field) so after A levels, you should go for a foundation diploma in Art and Design because i think most universities want it and if you do that, A level art and design is the only subject that matters so you don't have much pressure with regard to which subject to choose.
Hope this helps! :smile: (so long, I know)

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