How can I decide which of two completely different professions is the best for me when I love them both?
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There are a lot of fashion designers out there and most of them have started with money then opened their own shop. It wasn’t the other way around. So you will need income first, then savings, build your fashion empire with ideas, trademark your name and copyright your ideas, etc. And then start your fashion designing business. After you get your degree then you can go into fashion designing school for specialization. If you’re good at it you won’t need that much schooling in it.
You mentioned graphics illustrations and that appears to be a program that you just learn. So if you want to take those courses as an elective (then you can expand on it yourself) that would be great. Or, get a two year degree in something in computers and then expand from there. Get loans for this right now and start (if you are a high school or GED grad). Some schools start college in the high schools or maybe you could start college on the weekends.
But first get your loans and grants together and either start at a community college (to save money) and at least get your AA degree which you can transfer later to a 4-year college or university. You said you “like” archaeology but you’ve never tried it. Maybe on some summer vacation (if you have the money) you can go on a “dig”.
I think if you studied graphic design in a good program at a good university, you would be able to satisfy many of your interests. A top graphic designer has multiple skills beyond visual communications including writing, verbal, problem-solving. Making connections and analyzing seemingly unrelated ideas to bring them together is a huge part of what we do in a good professional position. The diverse interests you have would feed your ability to be a top designer by giving ideas for your work and knowledge so you have common ground for communicating with clients who may be scientists or business people or whatever.
In terms of design programs, look for schools offering courses specifically in typography and history of graphic design because the good design programs will have these courses and others will not. Then while you are a student, continue to be a seeker and take as many classes as possible outside your major to feed your other interests.
Whether if you get a second major, or simply take a heavy course load or stay an extra semester to fit more in, you won’t regret this. And you will have the best of both worlds in your education: a substantive preparation in a professional area, and a broad experience in other interesting and important topics.
The first 2 years of college involve taking basics like english and math, so you don’t need to make a decision today.
Okay, let’s look at what you’ve got:
1. fashion designer
2. graphic artist
3. biology
4. ancient history
Make a list of all of the careers in these fields and start to write down things like:
1. how much does it pay?
2. what are the pros and cons of each career?
There are job listings on the web that answer these questions.
Also, I suggest you find people in your area who do these jobs and ask to visit with them to get their view about the job. Ask them if you can spend a few hours or the entire day just being with them as they do their jobs. This will give you a lot of data to see if you want to pursue it as a career.
Believe me, most people would be thrilled to talk about themselves and what they do for a living.
Good luck
