Learning How to Communicate.

On Monday, I put my art diploma up for sale on EBAY. I was hoping to comment on the rising cost vs. the falling value of education in the U.S. 

I created a tongue-in-cheek press release, which you can read below, outlining the irony and sadness of this reality, hoping to create a dialogue around this state of affairs, but what it did, which was much more useful, was get me to think about the real value of my art education.

I learned how to communicate in art school. I learned how to give criticism, how to take criticism and use it to improve, and I learned how to communicate without words. This set of communication skills has been more valuable to me in business, social, and personal relationships than anything I learned in business school. By far.

So, though I really do believe that education is becoming cost-prohibitive, and that a degree means less and less as the years pass in terms of being able to find actual work, the shit I learned while going to art school? There is no currency system in the world that could measure its value. 

So, go ahead and read the press release below, maybe follow the link to Ebay, think about the nature of education in the U.S., the state of the political system, and the fact that in one way or another, a loan is just a chain around your ankle holding you back from true liberation.

But understand that this idea, the expression of it, and anything that comes from it is the fruit of my labors in art school. I can do this because I did that. 

Incredible Investment Opportunity Discovered in Art Degree

Bellingham WA, October 6th, 2014: 45 year old Sara Young discovered yesterday, much to her surprise, that since its purchase in 2000, her degree in craft (art) has more than doubled in value, creating an opportunity for investors and art collectors alike.

In 2000, Ms. Young purchased her degree, and thus her education for $48000. In 2014, this same education and degree is selling for $107,200. In fourteen short years, the value of this piece of paper has more than doubled, and Ms. Young is offering an excellent opportunity for investment this week on Ebay.

“I spent a grueling four years of my life earning that degree,” Ms. Young offered, clutching her head and shaking it, “it would be nice to see someone else get some use out of that thing, its value increases every year the more the price of education skyrockets and the value of the dollar falls.”

Ms. Young believes that the cost of education will just keep going up until prospective artists will be priced out of the education market all together.

“Soon, people won’t be able to buy this type of education. It will be a thing of the past. Art education will be dead, and this piece of paper will be worth millions.”

Ms. Young is the sole proprietor of Your Badass Heart, (pleaseyourselffirst.com) and Spike of all Trades (spikeofalltrades.com). She is an artist, a writer, and an entertainer.

Contact:

Sara Young

young.spike@gmail.com

2807 Cottonwood Ave.

Bellingham, WA 98225

360-441-6083

 

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