We should be happy for this guy. He worked very hard to get where he is, and he deserves it.

It's probably a bit unfair that the prevailing message to young people in America is "Follow your dreams" "Do what you love"...They make movies about it, they write songs, and it's probably said at every commencement speech. Then upon absorbing the student debt and the reality of the job market they realize they are farked by following what they thought was sage advice.

People are pretty sick of OWS. They're not protesting for anything, they're just destructive.

subby, we wouldn't have Team America: World Police without highly-skilled puppeteers.

evil saltine: People are pretty sick of OWS. They're not protesting for anything, they're just destructive.

People also pick up Mexicans at the Home Depot to choke them in the shower. I wouldn't put too much stock in people.

$35k for a masters seems pretty cheap. My masters in physics was 40 or so.

7of7: I agree, all people who go to college should get engineering degrees like I did. In fact let's get rid of art, history, literature, and all the non marketable sciences. I'm sure we as a society will be just fine and the glut of engineers won't be a problem at all.

Think back to freshman year of engineering school. Now think back to Sophmore year. There's a reason a lot of people change their majors after the first or second semester - they can't handle it.

That said, I've found that doing art has helped me be a better engineer. It exercises different parts of the brain. If I didn't have a family to support I'd seriously consider taking a few years off and getting a MFA in photography.

Nadie_AZ: [i.imgur.com image 502x338]

Frickin' Awesome!

MayoSlather: It's probably a bit unfair that the prevailing message to young people in America is "Follow your dreams" "Do what you love"...They make movies about it, they write songs, and it's probably said at every commencement speech. Then upon absorbing the student debt and the reality of the job market they realize they are farked by following what they thought was sage advice.

The problem is that people don't complete the instructions.

"Follow your dreams...but have a solid back up job plan in case they don't work out."

"Do what you love... but have a career that makes money ready to go if they won't pay you for it."

/dad had already gone through a version of this, so his advice was spot on.
//yay dad!

You will be a blacksmith, a cobbler, a stonemason, or a hunter.

/Oh i'm sorry, I thought this was the dark ages.

You can be anything you want. We never said you could put food on the table with it though.

7of7: I agree, all people who go to college should get engineering degrees like I did. In fact let's get rid of art, history, literature, and all the non marketable sciences. I'm sure we as a society will be just fine and the glut of engineers won't be a problem at all.

OMG, If Hollywood died off from a lack of arts majors, what would we do for reality shows?

There are areas of America right now, even with unemployment this high, that cannot find enough skilled labor.

Art is fine if you're doing it in your spare time, but learn something worthwhile to society as a whole or STFU about difficulties finding a job.

Treize26: You will be a blacksmith, a cobbler, a stonemason, or a hunter.

/Oh i'm sorry, I thought this was the dark ages.

I call clergyman!

Nice article, thanks for linking it.

clyph: Think back to freshman year of engineering school. Now think back to Sophmore year. There's a reason a lot of people change their majors after the first or second semester - they can't handle it.

Or they have that moment of truth realization that they don't want to be engineers for the rest of their lives, because they hate it and none of the jobs are anywhere near where they want to live, or similar reasons.

Sympathetic to OWS?

Yes.

And yes, we can agree that the MFA in PUPPETRY is a farking stupid move, I laughed when I actually read that.

ParallelUniverseParking: This just in: Not every single person makes smart life choices.

But they want government to guarantee success regardless of their dumbfark choices.

MFA in puppetry > Tebow

itazurakko: Or they have that moment of truth realization that they don't want to be engineers for the rest of their lives, because they hate it and none of the jobs are anywhere near where they want to live, or similar reasons.

I was briefly interested in being an engineer... I was inspired by Wally from Dilbert.

Big Man On Campus: There are areas of America right now, even with unemployment this high, that cannot find enough skilled labor.

I know... why won't people move 1,234 miles to work on my farm for $5.72 an hour?

Damn Marxist propaganda is what it is!

While I do support the message OWS is putting out, taking out a $35k loan on a Puppetry degree is pretty stupid.

evil saltine: People are pretty sick of OWS. They're not protesting for anything, they're just destructive.

[citation needed]

I'm pretty sure most of the "people" who are "pretty sick of OWS" had already made up their minds exactly two seconds after learning about them on Rush Limbaugh.

RexTalionis: Holy smokes. I just checked UConn and they do offer an MFA in puppetry arts. I was not aware such a thing was in such demand so as to mandate its own curriculum.

Dued. like it totally rocks.
I know this chick who totally actually got her degree and everything and couldn't get a job.
She took a job where I worked and like totally couldn't make change at the register, so I told her to stock the cooler.
She got rad hard nips and all, then came out and mopped the floor, but didn't do it right, and this tourist couple totally slipped and fell and broke their hips and she bawled and stuff. So I hard to drive her home, 'cause she didn't have a car n lived in this apartment over this Indian joint, and it smelled like curry all the time, and she burned a lot of incense to kill the curry, dude, and she had this rad tat of a dragon or a lizard or something on her backside, and really broke down when I told her they were gonna sue and stuff and she sucked my cak until dawn, and made me push her head down and she called me "daddy" the whole time and yeah.
so that or underwater basket weaving.
or psychology, if you're into that.
whatevar, man.

/vudu
//mopping floors in the 7-11
///waiting for your babby girl

It's really quite sad that in the real world, you can't actively pursue your dreams if it's not something that people really want to spend money on. The guy probably loved the art of puppetry, but it's not something that people these days want unless you're working for Sesame Street or some on and off broadway show.

In an ideal world, you'll be able to follow whatever you want to achieve in life without having to worry about being thrown down the gutter because you ran out of money and food. People always teach kids to "follow your dream" but fail to tell them about the true role of money in this world. Money is blood that runs through the veins of modern civilization.

Everyone seems to be ignoring the true outrage in the story: the travesty of the school system using "substitutes" as full time teachers. The same kind of thing is happening with adjuncts at universities. It's the full steam grinding down of whole classes of professionals. And if you don't think it can happen to your profession don't fool yourself.

holy shiat. MFA in puppetry? Why the hell does that take more than 1 class: here's how to insert your hand into the ass of your puppet, now move your hands while you talk so it looks like the puppet's talking. There, now you have an MFA in puppetry.

Is there really a job where you just flip burgers? and nothing else? I want that job. I won't remove them from the grill, either, cuz that's not in my job description.