Thank you for writing this. I also went to AI Pittsburgh for Animation, but I was on campus. I met a lot of cool people and my partner, so I can’t regret it entirely, but I definitely have complicated feelings about this useless degree from a now defunct school.
Thank you. Strangely enough, I got another degree at community college, but due to some undiagnosed until recently mental issues, I practically don’t remember any of it. So I’ve got two useless degrees under my belt. 🙃 At least my AI debt got cancelled.
An artist said they had been working multiple jobs and borrowing from family to pay for art school. One day, the instructor told him to make changes to a piece he was working on. He took it home, didn’t change anything, but said he did and got praised for the changes. Said “I’m paying for this?!”
I graduated from Art Institute of Seattle in 1998 with a degree in animation that a) I've never used and b) by the time I graduated, was never going to be able to use.
I eventually paid off my loan... with money from a wrongful death settlement after my mom died.
Not exactly the dream I hoped for.
This dude's testimony mirrors my own...weirdly though, I gravitated towards trial & error with a lot of the programs which led to my understanding them- if not to get an actual "art job in the real world" then I could use the skills to further better my design concepts on my own art/comic projects.
Forceful and lucid. It must be good for everyone if those with the least advantage can get a high standard of education - so sad that the grifters find a way to twist things round to their own advantage.
