As I recently discovered on a night out, while minding my own business might I add, that the hardest part of doing an arts degree is fielding all of the questions about what you’re going to do with it and why you are ‘wasting your life’ (thanks to a complete stranger for that little tidbit).
Arts and humanities students face a unique set of challenges in relation to idiotic questions and the outcome of their degrees. No nursing student is ever interrogated about what they plan to do with a degree where they look after sick people. Education students aren’t questioned about how they will ever find a job with a Bachelor of Education. So next time your grandma, parents, neighbours, estranged uncles or friends are grilling you, you can hit them with these helpful (and witty) answers to what you can really do with an arts degree.
1. Become a journalist.
2. Start a charity.
3. Teach annoying students like you.
4. Work in literally any cultural arts field, which probably gives me more job prospects than you.
5. Judge you for asking pointless questions.
6. Write books.
7. Study all of human history and human nature, no big deal.
8. Work in politics.
9. Get a PhD.
10. Answer dumb questions like yours.
Despite all the naysayers, an arts degree is a great way to have greater flexibility and a multitude of options for your post-uni life. After all, loads of successful people – including our very own Kevin Rudd and feminist icon Germaine Greer – have arts degrees. So just imagine all the great things you could do!
