How creative youngsters find excellent jobs after graduating from college. How parents can offer the right kind of advice and just enough financial help to launch young adults into well paying, stable jobs.
Moms and dads sometimes struggle to guide youngsters into productive careers. However, in today’s economic environment, millions of artists, performers, designers, filmmakers, writers, and dozens of other creative youngsters find excellent jobs after graduating from college. The trick for parents is offering the right kind of advice and just enough financial help to launch young adults into well paying, stable jobs. Getting solid advice is one of the first steps.
Consider working with a licensed counselor to explore vocational goals with your children. When the time comes to pay for college, remember that there are alternatives to traditional loans. Many parents use their home’s equity to acquire the necessary funds for schooling. Finally, let youngsters explore several pathways so they’ll get a feel for what’s out there and for their inherent talents. Be sure to prioritize core academic skills while offering after-school music and art lessons for kids who show an interest. Parents of creative students soon discover that the process is about exploration and keeping an open mind. Review the following suggestions and see which ones can offer you and your children some direction.
Meet with Vocational Counselors
In an effort to summon your creative juices and get on the right track get together with a school-based or independent vocational advisor. Licensed professionals can assist you with determining the academic and career paths that make sense for your son or daughter. Many charge per-hour fees, but the expense is worth it. Children usually enjoy discussing their career goals with informed, supportive adults, so encourage them to meet at least twice with a counselor.
Online resources are a low-cost way to find out about aptitude, interests, and basic skill levels. Counseling services that operate via internet platforms work via extensive testing. Kids can take a battery of exams and challenges to discover their creative potential. These are not academic tests but evaluations that use psychological parameters and personal preferences to assess talent and potential.
Use Built-Up Home Equity to Cover Education Expenses
If you wish to assist your children with the financial burden of attending college, consider leveraging the power of your home’s equity. Taking out a HELOC to pay for college is becoming a common strategy for parents who own their homes and want to take out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) instead of applying for student loans. Keep in mind that HELOCs work better for some than for others, so it’s best to gather all the pertinent facts before applying.
What’s the smartest way to begin? Review an informative guide that walks through all the options and shows homeowners how to get the most out of their built-up equity. There are several factors that come into play and can help you determine if using a HELOC to cover education expenses makes sense for you. They include how long you’ve lived in the home, how much money you need, and whether you have other sources of financing a college education for your children.
Don’t Neglect Basic Academics
No matter where your child is headed, it’s imperative to pay attention to the core academic subjects like mathematics, language skills, and others. College and university programs that offer entertainment oriented and fashion centered coursework want applicants who demonstrate solid study habits and academic talent in the basics. Never assume that being a top-rated musician, artist, or clothing designer will open the doors of academia.
While those things are great to have and go a long way toward enhancing an application, candidates need the basics too. Why? The elite fashion institutes, performing arts colleges, and similar types of creative programs are highly competitive; many incoming freshmen boast language and math skills that are among the best in the nation. Even at non-elite schools, admissions directors look for balanced scores in a wide range of subjects, including core courses like language arts, math, and history.
Music & Art Lessons Can Make a Difference for K-8 Kids
Pre-adolescent minds are inherently creative. One way to encourage that kind of talent is to offer art and music lessons for children under the age of 12. Let them choose, with guidance from you, an instrument or form of art. Large numbers of them select either the guitar or piano. Others are attracted to painting or drawing. Allow them to sample several paths before settling on one.
The goal is to help their artistic minds grow in more than one direction at a time. So many youths move on from their original instruments or art forms into other areas, like fashion designing, architecture, sculpture, musical composition, etc. Taking music lessons one or more times per week can serve to seed the intellectual ground and help pre-teens develop a taste for higher art forms.
