Another education thread

DavePhipps

In about a year or so I should be graduating with an associates degree in Computer Information Tech. My plan was to move back to the Seattle area when I'm finished. Then back in July I had a heart attack. I found myself taking it so easy that I was getting bored and started sketching again an playing around with 3d. I'm hooked again! Now instead of heading back when finished with my degree I'm thinking of getting an associates in Fine arts to get my basics down.
My question is: should I move back to Seattle after the CINT degree is finished and work in IT while working on my art skills, or stay and get the fine arts degree? BTW I'm going to school for free with Pell grants.
One of my other concerns is age. I'm 45 now, and am wondering if there is age discrimination in the gaming industry?

chrisradsby

Hmm that's a tricky one, if you have the time and/or money the best thing would probably be to teach yourself. A fine-arts degree is really nice to have though but skills is really all that matters in the games industry unless you're going overseas. So depending on your financial situation it might be quicker getting into the industry if you just create a kick-ass portfolio.

Regarding age-discrimination , I've seen very little of that happening in this industry. People are just happy to see other people share the same passion about video-games and developing them.

Swizzle

should I move back to Seattle after the CINT degree is finished and work in IT while working on my art skills, or stay and get the fine arts degree?

There's almost always going to be steady work for people in IT. The same can't always be said for people with arts degrees. It would probably be beneficial to have a more technical degree, at least as far as job security is concerned. And hey, doing art on the side can never hurt. It's always a good idea to keep practicing and stay flexible.

One of my other concerns is age. I'm 45 now, and am wondering if there is age discrimination in the gaming industry?

I'm 25 and I'm one of the youngest people at my studio. Most of the guys there are in their 30s and 40s. At my previous job, most of the guys were in their 30s. It's a fairly young industry, but a lot of the older guys are the ones who got into it on the coding/software side. Some of the designers and coders I work with are probably closer to 50 than 40. Take from that what you will, though I can't say I've ever heard of age discrimination in the games industry. If anything, you might get more respect than younger guys because you're more likely to be stable and less prone to doing stupid crap with your time.

DavePhipps

LOL I don't think I could even create a crappy portfolio at this time. I just started again back in July and am having to relearn everything. I'm working toward having the skillset and portfolio built up before I move to the Pacific Northwest.
Right now my biggest issue is with anotomy and the "Fine Arts" degree at my community college is mostly figure drawing. I already have all general Ed requirements met, so there wouldn't be much left.

Good to here that there isn't much age discrimination in the game industry. Where I live now there a ton of it in the IT industry.

JacqueChoi

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