by Vicky Monroe
Last week I finally went for my ADHD consultation. Although I haven’t gotten the bill yet, the receptionist checked with my insurance provider when I booked the appointment and the copay should be affordable. Luckily I had much better mental health coverage than I thought – I was preparing myself for this to be a $1,000 experience.
After meeting with the psychologist, I think I’m going to have to treat the executive dysfunction I’m experiencing from a different angle. The psychologist I saw thought that I had many of the symptoms of ADHD, but probably didn’t qualify for a formal diagnosis because I didn’t struggle in school as a child or have hyperactivity. Most of my symptoms emerged in adulthood, which made him believe my symptoms may be connected to my chronic illness and not ADHD. Although I’m still waiting for his final report, it seems like I don’t have ADHD.
My therapist believes I should get a second opinion because I have many of the symptoms. However, I think I’m going to try to tackle my executive dysfunction a different way and find a new specialist for my POTS. I’ve heard that some POTS patients have improved on narcolepsy medication and had a big reduction in brain fog, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction. I’ve also never had a sleep study done, and I know that sleep apnea runs in the family, so I may try to arrange one.
Education and Career Plans
A few months ago, I wrote about my desire to work toward a career change. I love writing and want to keep all of my current clients. However, I fear eventually AI will replace content writers, so I want to build other skills to stay competitive in the labor market.
After a lot of consideration, I think I want to go back to school to study photography and hopefully become a wedding or family photographer. I’m also open to product photography, but I think there’s a chance that could be outsourced to AI as well.
Wedding photography would be much harder to automate. Unless they develop a photography robot down the line, a human has to be there to document and capture the event. Becoming a photographer will still allow me to be creative and work for myself. I love being self-employed and don’t think I’d be happy in a traditional 9-5 job.
Handling the Cost of Education
Luckily I don’t think I’ll have to take on debt to go back to school. I plan to keep writing and work on my schoolwork part-time. This will allow me to take fewer credits and pay as I go instead of taking out loans. Plus, the online degree program I found is very affordable. It’s through a UK arts university that only charges international students around $15,000 for bachelor’s degrees.
Admission is on a rolling basis, so I’m working on my application now. Because the program is largely asynchronous, I can start whenever I want. If I get accepted, I’m planning to start in September so I can enjoy the summer.
I tried to go back to school once before and it didn’t work out. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study and the timing wasn’t quite right. But I’m hopeful that I’ll get accepted and be able to enroll!
My dad may also help me out with my educational costs. He offered to pay for my college education back when I was 18, but I decided not to go. When he heard that I was planning to go back to school this September, he said he would like to contribute.
I’m definitely grateful for his generous offer, but I’m not sure if I should take him up on it. He’s getting close to retirement and I think he may need to focus on saving for his own future. What do you all think – would you take him up on it?
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Vicky Monroe is a freelance personal finance and lifestyle writer. When she’s not busy writing about her favorite money saving hacks or tinkering with her budget spreadsheets, she likes to travel, garden, and cook healthy vegetarian meals.
Dang, I am a retired college professor, so I’m all for education. But if one is in debt, spending thousands of dollars for a degree in Photography seems out of line. Photography is a tricky career these days — between the abundance of phone cameras, and PhotoShop, people are not paying as much for professional photography as before. MANY MANY MANY people just start a photography business without a degree. LIkely a one semester course on photography, and an online marketing course is all you would need to get your business off the ground.
My husband was a professional wedding photographer for twenty years and still is a photographer. His bachelors degree had nothing to do with photography and most of what he learned came from self teaching and apprenticing. He trained me to be an assistant photographer. If you really want to do wedding or event photography, the best thing to do is to assist or apprentice with someone who is doing wedding photography and to take photography classes one at a time. People are going to hire you based on your portfolio of photos and not on whether you have a higher ed degree. The cost of the degree you’re considering would be better allocated to equipment and workshops!
I’m not sure how set you are on a degree but it’s completely unnecessary for wedding photography. There is no formal training required at all – only a good portfolio. I took photography classes at a community college and didn’t receive any accreditation. I’ve been paid for photography and it’s only a hobby for me! It might be worth considering if this is worth the time and money. Some googling on the subject will offer more opinions.
It seems to me wedding and family photography would be an iffy and impractical fallback. First, it depends on people having disposable income–family portraits are not a necessity. It’s also a business that thrives on personal relationships, which as a transplant to a rural area you may not have as deep ties as someone who has been there a long time. Plus with the rise of digital photography and relative low cost of equipment, everyone and her SAHM mom thinks they can take photos to pick up a few bucks. Also, why a study program from the UK when you could probably pick up basics at a community college and or distance state school program? Or serve an apprenticeship or get a side job with a photographer in your area?