Sunday, November 30, 2008

Advice Please!

So most of you who know me know how much I am not enjoying school right now. This will be my last semester starting in January bc I will graduatge in May. I just hate it so much I am taking 24 hours in one semester to be done. So basically one semester of academic Sheol and then I will have a bachelors in Anthropology (aka a degree that you literally can do nothing with without getting your masters). I just chose it because I wanted to do something where I learned about different cultures and how they work so I could maybe use it to do some missions work or something...well that hasn't happened...the learning about other cultures that is... and so now I am just doing it to get a degree...which does go farther these days than it used to. But what I want to do is photography. God has lit that passion in me this year and it is taking off that is for sure, but I just am very uneducated about it. I don't know how to use photoshop...deal with lighting, exposures or anything else...the pictures I have done have turned out as good as by the GRACE OF GOD... literally. So all that said I have $5,000 left to spend toward college. and here is where the dillemma/ need for advice comes in.

I really believe photography is what God wants me to do. it is what i have a true passion for when it comes to occupations and He continues to open doors for that... I haven't opened any myself which is such a good feeling...and I pray He will grant me the grace to continue to walk in that patience and let Him keep working through it. But I just have this thought in my heart (different than a thought in your head...ya know what I mean?) that maybe I should stop this other degree and go to photography school. I mean I only have $5,000 to spend toward school right now. So it is one of the other right now if you know what I mean. I can spend it at UAB and finish my degree in Anthro...or stop that for now...I mean I really can finish that at anytime...and go to school for photography and be able to do more with that. Photography has the potential to bring in great money...and who knows... if I decide to go that route... I can still take like one Anthro class at a time through the years and be done with that degree in like 2 years. And in the mean time I can go to hotography school...learn how to actually be a true life photographer and be able to take on more higher paying jobs which in turn can pay for me to finish my other degree.

Now I won't pretend to be more disciplined than I truly am and say that if I do not finish this Anthro degree next semester...then I may not finish it ever. Which may be okay since I am not learning anything anyways...but who knows. Maybe I will use it one day...maybe I just need to shift directions for a while... its not like my classes disappear if I skip a semester...I don't know. Just want to get others opinions. So drop me a comment or message if you can. I'd appreciate.

Whatever it is... To HIM be the glory.
Rach

3 comments:

Rachel said...

Hey Rachel!
I know that we don't know each other too well outside of bloggy world, but I had a very similar college crisis. So although I won't pretend to be able to help you make an objective decision about your situation, I thought I could at least tell you what happened with mine.

I was getting an accounting degree, which I loved accounting but was quite disenfranchised with what I was learning about it in school.

At the same time, God was doing some awesome things in my heart and through me in a particular ministry (ministering to troubled girls). I will never forget the date because it is so bizarre, but on 9/11/01 (BEFORE I heard about the terrorist attacks), I had a very intense time with God where I SO felt that God was telling me to get out of Accounting and go into Christian Counseling or something else related to my ministry at hand.

Obviously, within the next half hour, life changed dramatically. Everyone was scared, looking around every corner for another attack, and I had to put that conversation I had with God on the back burner to deal with the world falling apart around me.

I do remember telling Chris about it (we had been married for about 6 months at this time), and I think we talked about it, but I just wasn't sure anymore.

I finished my degree in Accounting in the next two years, and here are a couple of great things that came out of it:

1. God did open the door for me to take an intense class through SMIC on Counseling, which was extremely helpful and insightful - probably more so than college would have been, because it was taught by an actual biblical counselor rather than a college professor. It was exactly what I needed to be further equipped for my ministry.

2. With my accounting degree, I was promoted to Accounting Manager at the company I had been working at since I was 16. God opened doors and allowed me to hire three girls (at different times over the years) that subsequently became part of those girls I ministered to - my next three "spiritual daughters". Through my day in, day out contact and amazing opportunity to mentor them, God was able to use me to help one come to the Lord and the other two mature in their relationship with Christ and make wiser life decisions. There were also three other (older) ladies at work that I was able to help as well. If I had not finished my degree, God wouldn't have had the opportunity to use me in their lives.

In conclusion, in 2001 I couldn't see how God could use an Accounting degree to further my ministry. However, He did - He actually used it quite a bit. And besides that, He provided alternate means for me to get the "education" that I needed for my ministry. I think that God led me through my uncertainty and helped me make the right decision for the path that He had me on, even though I couldn't see it, and even (in 2001) felt guilty for NOT making the decision that I THOUGHT He was leading me to.

Phew - sorry for the long comment and all of the run-on sentences, but you did ask for feedback. With all that being said, I will definitely pray for you that God will help you make the decision that He wants you to make, even if you can't see the reason for it or the results from it.

RDJones said...

Thanks so much, Rachel. It does help o have an objective perspective.

Peyton said...

photography. rachel, i know you have such a passion for taking pictures. and you are so great at it.