If you don't have anything nice to say...

People who know me and know how much I love the humanities might be surprised to learn that I started out my academic career as a biology major. This was mostly because my parents wanted me to "get a real job" in a field where I could make a decent living. I had always loved plants, so I figured I would go into botany when I got to university. Alas, it was not to be. My love of art, history, and especially literature was too strong, and I decided to pursue an education that was actually interesting to me. For the most part, I have always been glad that I made that decision.

A lot of times, when I meet new people, they will tell me that their child is interested in the arts, but they don't want him/her to pursue it because of the lack of job opportunities. Then they will ask if I regret my career choice due to lack of opportunities. I don't. If you are in the humanities and open minded, there will always be opportunities. There is only one thing that has ever really made me regret my decision. The humanities--art especially--is a very competitive field, and perhaps due to this, there seems to be a much higher ratio of really ornery people that you have to deal with. I noticed it a little during under-grad, and by graduate school, I felt like I was living in the world of Mean Girls. Since entering the working world, I have met a lot of really great people who are dedicated to promoting the arts, but I have also met a lot of artists, professors, gallery owners, etc. who seem to devote their lives to putting other people down and just generally being jerks. I've also met a lot of snooty, pretentious, fake people. So I always wind up telling these people, that what their child really needs to be if they want to be an artist is thick-skinned. They also need to have the good sense to ignore the mean people and to seek out the kind, genuine people who became artists or writers because they really love their fields.

Having said that, I am including a link to an interview with an artist who I have not met in person, but I love what he has to say about the field: Mr. George Rodrigue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4orjLLVBio