End Of An Era

Since the semester just ended and I transferred out of Graphic Design into Printmaking, I felt that I would talk about some of my feelings/insights/rambling incoherent thoughts on the subject.

When I was an undergraduate at UND I did a lot of things and found that I enjoyed Printmaking and Graphic Design, in that order the most. Not sure why I chose to go with Graphic Design when I feel that I was and still am better in Printmaking, maybe it was the fact that it should be easier to get a job with Graphic Design. Anyways the classes I took there in retrospect didn't really prepare me for the overwhelmingness (is that a word?) that I would soon feel. I mean sure it started out fine and they eased us into it, making me feel like I could do it. But how quick the tide can turn.
We were told how rough and tumble things would be in the real world, how you had to know just about everything about everything WHILE also realizing that you're just a designer. If that doesn't compute let me break it down real fast: if you are doing something related to say brain surgery for some reason, you need to know everything there is about brain surgery so that you can be the smartest (in a perfect world) person in a room of both designers and brain surgeons. While also not trying to be a brain surgeon. That's what it's like in a nutshell. VERY,VERY overwhelming.
I guess that I realized that I just like design and not love it. I don't want to spend hours upon hours working on something that I might not care about. Also design is so vague. Half the time it seems like a guessing game on what a teacher is looking for. One of my biggest peeves was that it became a god damn money pit. Every project got more expensive, this past semester I probably spent a good $500 at least on ink cartridges. Then there is paper and other miscellaneous crap to go with it. I guess another thing that I could never get into (some of my designer friends felt the same way also) is that I don't want to save the world. It seems that everything has to be about saving this, conservation, informing people about evil corporations, blah blah blah. That's not me and it never has been, and it also loses me very quickly. Plus I don't know if it's just me but if Graphic Design is all about being unique and coming up with stuff that normal people don't think of, why is it that just about every designer out there wants to do one of these boring things? Kinda seems to defeat the overall goal, might be me though.
Anyways so I'm done with it as a major/future occupation. I mean there are things about it that I still like and will probably hold my attention. I won't forget (fingers crossed) it and can integrate it into my future work as a Printmaker. Also I made some pretty cool design friends and if any of them stumble upon this I very much enjoyed working with them. But upwards and onwards!