Title: Our Future

By: darkwolf

Hi,
I am almost 21, and so is my boyfriend. We have only been dating a little over 4 months, but it feels like a lot longer (we were friends for a few months before we started dating.) We know each other pretty well, are in love, and are planning a future together. He has already told me he wants to marry me when we get out of college, and I want to too. The problem is our areas of study.

I am studying to be a zoologist. This has been my dream job as a kid, and I am working at our local zoo this summer so I can get a foot in the door. With 3 more summers and maybe another year working at this zoo, plus a zoology degree, I will probably be able to get a job as a zookeeper anywhere I want to. The problem? Zookeepers don't make shit for money. Seriously, I think teachers might be making more than zookeepers. I do not wish to change careers, this is what I want to do, and my boyfriend knows and respects that.

The real problem? My boyfriend is an art major. I'm sure you have all heard poor, starving artist jokes. Sure, if you become really famous, like andy warhol, you might be making millions... but being an artist is kind of like being an actor, everyone wants to do it because it is fun and easy. In the area of the country I want to live in, everyone is a poor farmer with no money to spend on art. He is a really good artist, don't get me wrong, he can draw and paint very well and is excellant at pottery, but no one has money to spend on art, and there are a lot of artists out there that are good but never make it big.

I do not want to make him switch majors, he loves art and that is what he wants to do, and he respects my decision and I should respect his, but I can't help feeling worried about our future. I want a nice house, not a mansion, but not a trailer house either. I want to live outside a city and have enough land to keep my 3 horses. I want to be able to go out to eat at fancy restaurants once and awhile, not live off of ramen noodles for the rest of my life. I want to be able to afford to have a couple of kids, a decent car, stuff like that. I'm not asking for millions of dollars, I just don't want to live on pennies, in a trailer house, eating ramen, not even being able to afford anything extra.

I'm doing what I want to do, and I'm going to let him do what he wants to do, and I love him, I love him so much, and he loves me just as much back. We get along great, hardly argue, do everything together, but I am worried that he might not be able to help me get what I want in life. I love him so much, I don't want to leave him, this is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. If anyone has any advice on how we can get what we want in life, that would be great. Any advice on perhaps other jobs artists can get that pay a little more? He says he is going to talk to a career counselor at college, but I'm not sure if he will have the courage to do it (he has his heart set on being an artist). I sort of feel like art should be his side job to something else. I wanted to be a writer, but I decided that I should get a steady job with zoology, and write in my spare time, and I can't help feeling like that is what he should do with art... are these feelings bad, should I just suck it up and deal with it, or should I tell him he needs to rethink his career choice?

Thanks for your time and help!
DarkWolf