5.13.2009

don't be soooo depressed

...As many undergraduates fret about graduation, at least one subculture of students in the expensive college landscape is exuding a decidedly morose state of mind: art students. Like many undergrads seeking specialized humanities degrees, student artists wonder what viable place they can occupy in a tightening economy, which now is luring young people into more stable careers in government, the sciences, health care or consulting...
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Richard Freeman, a Harvard professor and National Bureau of Economic Research director, said young artists can take comfort: Young bankers are almost on par with them in choosing risky careers. Freeman, though, is hopeful for humanities majors. "If you think of a place like McKinsey consulting, and you come with an art degree, they may prefer you because they're looking for creative thinkers," he said...
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...And some offer positions that seem to exploit young people's desperation to gain a foothold in a creative industry. "The one thing I am dealing with is that paid internships are not paid anymore," Ammadi said. "Employers ask, 'Can we get students to volunteer?'...
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In one of her recent photo classes, Nizborski was showing classmates and the professors a project titled "Middle American Recession," a series of images of her sister, her sister's husband and their three kids in Missouri. Nizborski's sister works part time and the brother-in-law had been forced to cut back his weekly hours at a job at a concrete plant. Nizborski said her photo subjects seemed a bit baffled by her path. "They were like, 'What do you go to grad school for?'"
///Art Students' Predicament: Special Skills but Limited Prospects, Ian Shapira/// Washington Post

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