<p>My DD just graduated with her BA in 3 1/2 years. She is moving on and will finish up her Master’s, she already has 4 classes completed. She will have completed her master class requirements by spring and then have a summer internship. Over the weekend she had a melt-down. She is already worried about her future. Once she graduates what will she do? She will no longer have a set path, she was a dance major. She is a planner and now all of a sudden she does not have the clear idea of where she will be, what she will be doing. I know this should not be news to her, but I think it hit her in the face and she is scared. She isn’t sure of her life in the next year. Has anyone else been through this. I know that with the current economy and state of the world that nothing is for certain in life but I feel so bad for these recent grads and their prospects</p>
<p>If she’s a planner like mine, she has probably researched options open to a person with her background. If she hasn’t, she can start. The thing to realize is that there is NEVER anything for certain. My older D took dance classes from a young woman who followed a similar path as your D, got into a good dance company in NYC and promptly had a career-ending injury. So she went back home and opened a dance studio. She ended up doing well at that but it sure wasn’t her “certain” path. I majored in journalism and now newspapers are folding in droves. I make more money as an administrative assistant than I ever did as what I went to college to learn.</p>
<p>Have your D start researching jobs and places to live and the job market/cost of living there/ It’s what mine has been doing as part of her college search. I am not well-versed in the performing arts world, but my BIL is a professional actor. His career has taken him from NY to LA and for many years he has been in Vancouver, BC where there is a huge performing arts community. He had to start quite small, as I assume your D will. But he has done very well. It takes a lot of persistence and drive though. Good luck to your D.</p>
<p>She just needs to set new goals for herself in a variety of areas of her life, whether directly related to career or not. When people spend years working toward clear cut targets with defined steps for completion, life can seem empty and scary when those are all complete. She will feel better when she has set some new targets to aim for. That is human nature.</p>
<p>She also needs to discuss things with her advisor. She is one of many who pass through the program every year. There will be information about what others have done and job opportunities available within her department.</p>
<p>Very blunt here…what did she plan on doing with her dance major? She must have had a plan - dancer, teacher? If so, why shouldn’t she follow her plan? Why panic before she sees how it will all work out? If she doesn’t know what she wants to do, why is she getting a master degree? What is doing internship on? Could she turn that into a permanent position?</p>
<p>I guess I agree with oldfort - what was she thinking she wanted to do when she chose the major? The internship ship would be a good starting point. But I too, wonder why the masters - was she thinking of teaching dance at a college? All kids panic - or maybe 99% panic - i don’t know, but I’ve watched two graduate and panic, but they got their legs underneath them within 3-6 months. Not always doing what they thought they would be but enough to support themselves and take it one step at a time. My oldest just did a 180 when he was offered something out of the blue totally unrelated to anything he’d been doing since college graduation 3 years ago, but something he had discovered along the way in the same field. Something that had never been on his radar. So graduation is just another step along a very long path. </p>
<p>Her graduate degree will be in Adaptive Physical Activity, she would like to have a dance studio where there is a focus on special needs kids. She would first like to perform, which is the part she is concerned about. She knows it is such a competitive job market and it is the “not knowing” that has her concerned. She knows getting a dance job is not the easiest in the world and she does have drive and determination. It is just that the real world is suddenly out there and it is a big world and like most wants to be a success. She said I don’t’ want to be one of “those kids” who end up living back home with their parents. She has had her mind set on dance since she was 9, she has researched and looked into various companies. It is the not knowing if she will land one of those that is hard. </p>
<p>Well, I would tell her to give it her all in auditioning for dance companies, knowing that with her graduate degree she always has backup options. She may end up teaching just a few classes at a community center etc. before she is able to open her own studio. </p>
<p>Just remember, “whatever you learn, you will use.” You just may not know where or when! And fortune favors the prepared. And there’s no shame in living at home for a while as long as she’s not in the basement playing video games all day…which I don’t see happening with her! </p>
<p>I don’t think there is anything wrong with moving back in with your parents for a bit, if it enables you to find work in your field instead of working retail to pay the rent.
Will she have loans to pay back?
It’s great to have a focus on those who have physical & or mental disabilities, but how much experience does she have with kids w special needs like those with dyspraxia/apraxia? I don’t know how classes with only those kids would work, they would have to be very small and probably expensive, and she would want to work with their OT.</p>
<p>I agree talking to her advisor sounds overdue.</p>
<p>“like most she wants to be a success” I think she has to define (or redefine ) what this means. She needs a few specific and immediate bench marks in her life. My D is in music, never spent time on the couch after undergrad or grad and is making a living from her art. To her, that defines success. That and a certain amount of forward momentum in her creative life.</p>
<p>Thats why work experience is important (i.e internships). Did she not work in an office or somewhere while in school? </p>
<p>I think this is natural no matter what the background of the student is. My daughter graduates in May and has had a job offer that she excepted over two months ago. She called me yesterday and said she was going to ask to start 6 months after her original offer date because she will only have a handful of days off from her summer charity commitment and the start of her job. I basically told her no, she made a commitment and she needed to keep it. She called me the next morning to tell me her head was back on straight and she was just having a momentary “OMG…I am about to be an adult freak out.”</p>
<p>It is tough for “creatives”…I have two of them…they get so fulfilled in college studying and honing their art, getting great feedback on their performances, then they suddenly realize they have to earn a living when they graduate. My S will graduate next summer in music composition; he wants to be a film composer but knows it will take years to establish himself in that field. In the meantime he is taking on any work he can get in music, paid or unpaid, just to build his resume; he is entering competitions that he finds online, joining online forums for composers, giving guitar lessons to kids, writing songs and trying to publish and sell them, doing arrangements for other artists, etc. He may end up doing restaurant work for a while to pay the bills, just like many young artists do. The important thing is to be building a professional portfolio and knowing that is your “real” work, even if you have to do something totally different for a while to make a living. </p>
<p>Where have previous grads from her masters program gotten jobs? Would suggest networking with them as a start.</p>
<p>Of course it’s scary. Everyone faces this. You just have to take a deep breath and the first step. Good luck to her. Obviously she is bright and I’m sure she’ll be just fine.</p>
<p>My advice to my son is often to “chunk it down”. Go from a to b and then to c and then d, take it a step at a time. Do not go from A all the way to z in one fell swoop. As your daughter puts her intentions out there, the right doors will open up to meet her. Tell her you have every confidence in her and that things will work out.</p>
<p>There is a newscaster on the Pittsburgh station we watch who does weekend news, and her bio states she majored in dance. She is very well liked. My niece worked at CNN for 10 years and said employees there had all manner of degrees, not just in communications or journalism or what you’d expect.</p>
<p>I also tell my son that if something he tries doesn’t work out, oh well, learn from it and move on and try something else. I think college grads need to know it’s okay if they encounter bumps along the way. </p>
<p>I tell my son I don’t worry about him being a success. I know he will be. What I want to know is have I taught him perseverance? When things get tough, have I taught him to pull himself back up and move forward? That is the life lesson I consider to be one of the more important ones.</p>
<p>I’m only a college freshman with relatively little experience with the “real world”, so take this post with a large chunk of salt :)</p>
<p>I had a mini-meltdown earlier this semester that involved large amounts of chocolate, ice cream, and exclamations of “I don’t know what I’m doing with my major… career… life!” My parents and extended family have been really wonderful in lending some perspective amidst the confusion. They have pointed out that my life is a story, not a resume, and the most interesting stories involve plenty of twists and turns.</p>
<p>Case in point: my cousin, who I am close to and really admire, was a neuroscience major at Brown planning to become a neurologist. But she went to a global health conference and became interested in the AIDS pandemic. After graduation, she spent a year in South Africa working in HIV prevention and then moved to California to become a HIV/AIDS counselor. She pursued a degree in nursing to continue serving the population that has become close to her heart. A decade ago, no one could ever have predicted that she would end up managing a clinic in San Francisco!</p>
<p>All this to say, we don’t really know where everything will lead, and it’s ok not to have your entire life planned out. Obviously it is important to have goals and short-term plans, but it is equally important to keep an open mind and be willing to take (reasonable) risks.</p>
<p>I think this is a pretty natural occurrence. I think of college as a halfway house for most kids. They feel grown up and like they are on their own but most really have a huge parental safety net beneath them. They realize at some point that they when they graduate, they will be on their own and have to be totally real adults and the panic sets in. </p>
<p>Why would you major in dance? Makes no sense. </p>
<p>Why not major in dance? And the OP clarified:
“Her graduate degree will be in Adaptive Physical Activity, she would like to have a dance studio where there is a focus on special needs kids”</p>
<p>Anyway - to the OP - if you’ve ever watched “Taxi”, there is only one taxi driver on the show, everyone else has their “real career” which is still in the works - acting, boxing, gallery owner…</p>
<p>I think if your daughter wants to audition for parts, that’s great. Set up somewhere where she can have access to a lot of theaters. But I do think that if she is thinking of a future career with special needs kids, she should be able to find a job as an assistant to a recreational therapist, and explain that she might have to take time off for roles.</p>