<p>Junior year is absolutely the hardest year, academically. </p>
<p>Well, everyone beat me to the wisdom I would have shared - so I’ll just say “yeah, what they said” from the perspective of a mom who adores her kids and wants nothing more for them to be happy, which DOES include a certain level of financial security, too - let me add that the most useless degree is the one they don’t finish.</p>
<p>My first one should have majored in music. He’d have probably gone to his classes and might be something now as lowly as a music teacher <em>cue the condescending sniffs from certain people</em> instead of flunking out because he was pressured into going into engineering which he was probably smart enough for but had no interest in doing and was too immature to handle a FIVE HOUR math course. My husband’s idea of how to pick a career was to google “best paying job” and put him in that one. Son was too passive and immature to say, “hey wait - I don’t actually want to do that.” </p>
<p>(btw that was sarcasm - being a music teacher is a <em>fine</em> thing to be. Just not a WEALTHY thing to be. Which some people object to.)</p>
<p>He fought me tooth and nail on Daughter going into theater - one day he came home from work, hating his job as usual, *****ing about it and suddenly he looked at me and said - “okay, if theater is what she wants to do, let her.”</p>
<p>Our kids may or may not end up on stage in the long run but I do believe if they are motivated and get a good basic liberal arts education that theater provides, they’ll find the path to success as much as anyone else in any field other than, say, nursing, or welding, or some other technical field which has a shortage. I’d rather them be in theater than history, journalism, social work, or any of the “studies” group, for sure.</p>
<p>Our solution was that D is focusing a lot on design and tech - she still will grab any chance to perform, but for kids who love performing, of course, but just want to be in that theater world, tech is a good “backup” and most programs will give them experience in all those areas even with an emphasis on one aspect. Not the same thing as a double major, and not quite as solid of a backup as a double major, but from what I understand talking to friends who work in regional theaters around here, if you can do a bit of everything it makes you in pretty good shape to get a job in theater.</p>
<p>I always figured, before she changed her concentration, that D would only perform a few years before going back and doing tech anyway - I just have the feeling, for her, she’s not going to want to be fighting those ten pounds her whole life. 
Studying and seeking performance is such an amazing thing to do that it can never be a waste of time - they will either succeed at it, or it will give them a way to succeed at something else.</p>
<p>Look at CoachC and she’s not the only fascinating example. The experiences you have and things you learn and people you meet in theatre will give someone so much material from which to create a fascinating life than sitting in an office somewhere…thank God for office workers who keep the world functioning, but not everyone has to do that to make a living. :)</p>