Did I seriously do that? Yes. Yes, I did.

[firecat88]

For those who don't know, I'm currently in the process of finishing up a bachelor's degree in Computer Information Systems, which is all about using computers for business purposes (networking, database management, 500 different ways to use Microsoft Office). Sometimes it's not so bad, but sometimes it can be just one giant headache. Well, around sometime last year, I decided 'Yeaah...kiiiinda hate this.'

Usually when I make such a decision, I kinda end up...bailing out, for lack of a better term, on whatever's causing me to feel that way. I didn't feel right about the idea of changing majors this close to being done (I only have the highest level class and one upper-division elective), so I just felt absolutely stuck and wishing that I hadn't changed from graphic design, which was what my original major was, to CIS.

During a meeting with my advisor, I explained that I'd been bouncing the idea back and forth of doing a double major. However, he brought something up that, for some reason, I'd never even considered- Just going for a minor instead of a major. So I looked at the program sheets for both. The Graphic Design minor is only 24 more credit hours that I'd need, 3 of which I'd already finished up because of an art class I took my freshman year of college. The *major* for Graphic Design with a concentration in Animation was huge. And scary. Like, scary enough for me to want to do this when I saw it:

To make a long story short (too late, I know. XD), I met up with one of the professors from the art department yesterday. Today, I went into the admin office in the art building to officially declare the minor.

Honestly, I'm happy about it. I really am. However, I'm also ever so slightly terrified by my own decision. It was a huge thing that I've been just mulling over for the past year, and now that it's all official, I'm thinking 'Ok, this is either going to be the best idea I've ever had or it's going to kill me'. Not sure which will happen yet. We'll see.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

well! Good job on deciding on a future! Hopefully, "that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger" will prove a truism in your case!

[firecat88]

Thanks. The more I've been thinking about it, though, now that almost a full 24 hours have passed since I got everything set up, the less freaked out I am. I truly do think that this will be a good thing for me.

Creativity-wise, I'd been feeling pretty dead. There's not much room for creativity in CIS. Everything there is pretty by-the-book. With the upper division classes, especially, it's been hard because the creative half of my brain definitely functions much better than the logical side (which, I found out a while ago, may or may not be related to my having hydrocephalus). I don't like to feel creatively dead or repressed. e.e It scares me just slightly.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Thanks. The more I've been thinking about it, though, now that almost a full 24 hours have passed since I got everything set up, the less freaked out I am. I truly do think that this will be a good thing for me.

Creativity-wise, I'd been feeling pretty dead. There's not much room for creativity in CIS. Everything there is pretty by-the-book. With the upper division classes, especially, it's been hard because the creative half of my brain definitely functions much better than the logical side (which, I found out a while ago, may or may not be related to my having hydrocephalus). I don't like to feel creatively dead or repressed. e.e It scares me just slightly.

Good. It's a horrible thing to experience 'buyer's remorse' on a life-change. Granted, you could just change right back at this point, if it's like my college, but still. ... and I usually don't hear (ie if I have I don't recall!) about people hating their creative side-- they might moan and whine about how they suck at it, but I hear more about how they wish they were more creative, or how their beloved muse has deserted them, or some such. And, having any part of yourself repressed or dead (in my opinion) ought to be scary. It means something's wrong. (And yes, even if it's a part that most people don't have. It still means that something needs to get discovered and sorted out.)
Think of this like the coming spring for your creativity and what you want out of life-- right now, you feel stifled and all withered from not being creative, and this new(ish) path will let that nut sprout and grow into something wonderful. It may be ugly, it may be beautiful, it may have so much meaning-- or none at all-- but that's the thing about art and expression.
People do so much to continue existing; we see it here on the boards when people work at jobs that are killing them (emotionally, spiritually, maybe even physically!) for themselves and those they love (children, parents, animals, etc); wars are fought over various reasons; you could probably think of more. However, at some point, you have to consider the why. I firmly believe that love is an answer to that-- and so is art. Art isn't the act of existence. It's the act of existing more.
But enough about that. Your brainpan needs to be tapped (sorry bad joke ) and you need to post what you make in your artsy-fartsy classes!

EDIT: I <3 ur avvie!~

[firecat88]

and you need to post what you make in your artsy-fartsy classes!

Oh, I will. I'll definitely be showing off the really good ones, if there be any to show off.

EDIT: I <3 ur avvie!~

Thanks. <3 I was inspired by seeing everyone else's avies.

[Eric the Grey]

LOL. That's what I did a year ago, although I never finished my IT major since I was only half-way through my credits.

I'm now in the MGD program, specializing in Web Media. Good luck. I think you'll have fun.



Eric the Grey

[gunsage]

When I was in college for CIS, I was primarily doing it because I was always told that's what you should do if you want to get into game design. That's a total LIE...but I believed it and was pigheaded enough to go through 7 years of the BS due to going part time, the program constantly changing, having to retake a few courses, etc. And now I don't even use my degree. Sure, I can't deny that it works for some people and the education I got there has certainly helped for tech support and such, but I HATE programming now, where previously it was just a hobby.

I still really want to get into game design, but now I'm worried that I'm going to ruin another hobby. Still, if you enjoy the courses, chances are you'd enjoy a career that specializes in it. And I do enjoy mild programming such as HTML, basic scripting, etc., so there's that.

[firecat88]

When I was in college for CIS, I was primarily doing it because I was always told that's what you should do if you want to get into game design. That's a total LIE...but I believed it and was pigheaded enough to go through 7 years of the BS due to going part time, the program constantly changing, having to retake a few courses, etc. And now I don't even use my degree. Sure, I can't deny that it works for some people and the education I got there has certainly helped for tech support and such, but I HATE programming now, where previously it was just a hobby.

I still really want to get into game design, but now I'm worried that I'm going to ruin another hobby. Still, if you enjoy the courses, chances are you'd enjoy a career that specializes in it. And I do enjoy mild programming such as HTML, basic scripting, etc., so there's that.

Yeah, I do enjoy playing with HTML and CSS. Heck, web design is what I've wanted to get into for some time now. Even before I started college, I've been dabbling in making websites for various things.

However, there's not a whole *lot* of web design in CIS. Which my advisor actually brought up. He's heard me gush about web design before, and even sat through me showing him my favorite website host (Webs.com. I love it), though he did point out that there's not much call for actual web design in the program. I mean, I've taken a course that included HTML, CSS, PHP, and MySQL (the latter two scare me to death and I didn't do quite as well on those as I would've liked), but beyond that? All the web design stuff is in the computer science program.

Because of that, very low-grade programming hasn't been entirely ruined for me yet. Most IT stuff has, though. Networking and database management, I've decided, is just not for me.