Why Major in Animation?

Passion, in a word, is why you should select animation for your major.  If you have an affinity for storytelling, you love to draw characters and, you love technology, then you have all the beginnings of a passion for animation.  It is a multi-faceted career requiring a combination of raw talent, training and natural drive to excel.  As with anything you may be spending several years of your life with, your college major should focus on something you love.  So, how do you decide if animation should be your major and eventually your career?

First, if the thought of animating has even crossed your mind, the major is worth exploring.  If you’ve thought about it, you probably like to draw and create characters.  You’ve very likely spent countless hours doodling and sketching, maybe even taking it beyond the individual characters to comic strip style illustrations.  Expanding those doodles to more complete stories is where storytelling comes into play.  If you love to spin a tale to bring life to your drawings, you’re two thirds of the way to being an animator.  Sprinkle in some technology to really bring your creation to life and you’ve got everything you need to major in animation and make it a career.  What happens if you can tell a great story and truly love animation, but your artistic skills are less compelling?  You could still major in animation and make your love your career.  It will just take work, determination and drive to be successful. 

Once you’ve determined that you possess all the elements to pursue animation, major in it in school and graduate, what are your career options?  There is a broad spectrum of industries that use animators.  Of course, movies or cartoons and video game design are at the top of that list.  Animation is also used in advertising, training, website design, and three dimensional product modeling, just to name a few.  Depending on the company, the job and your experience, salary may range from the low $30,000’s to over $100,000. 

Now that you know you have the natural abilities and interest to major in animation and some of the basics about career possibilities, you should begin looking at options for schools.  There are a number of possibilities, so it’s important to explore everything that is available and choose what your best fit may be.  A great place to start investigating the prospects is, of course, online.  There are numerous comprehensive lists of schools that include brief descriptions of the programs available.  If you decide to make animation your major and future career, you could choose to go to school online or attend a more traditional campus and obtain an associate, bachelor and even a master’s degree, so follow your passion and choose to major in animation.