For any new parents reading this remember: your kid is getting a college degree.
That was good enough for me, as a parent. Since I had a liberal arts degree…and somehow made it in life…I figured my kid would make it somehow with a music degree. I wasn’t so concerned if she would make it in music/performance or not (I guess I thought that there was a good chance for not…and then she’d have to go get an entry level job somewhere). I just wanted her to get a college degree…the area of study never concerned me too much (it seemed to concern some nosy frenemies a great deal however…that was annoying!).
Being a performer cast pretty regularly in her community along with teaching affords her a decent lifestyle (a home with her boyfriend, a car, some vacations) so it’s all good. She’s not bringing home the big bucks but none of her colleagues are either. I think that she feels fairly comfortable. She does get a fair amount of rejection sometimes. So that’s hard. It seems to run hot and cold. But she’s learned to deal with that and still find enough work.
I will say that she LOVES being part of a creative community. It brings her so much JOY. She has a great network to collaborate with, socialize with and is called often for work. And she teaches in the community too. So she absolutely loves it (except during a sting of rejections…lol). Music performance has been very rewarding for her…so far. And if that ever changes…she can go interview for some type of work. She’ll figure it out.