I am majoring in business because, simply put, I don’t want to be a starving artist.

I could’ve bypassed the whole college route entirely and busted tables or flipped signs on the side of the road. This would’ve given me more time to work on my writing side projects, or more than likely, more time to procrastinate on my writing by going to the beach or dusting my ceiling.

It’s difficult, to say the least, to become the next J. K. Rowling or even just to amount to some measure of success. You need a steady fallback plan to avoid adding the adjective “starving” to your artistic title.

When you think about a job, you think of someone paying you to do something. Where does that money come from? Business.

Anyone who makes money is involved in some kind of business, hence the usefulness of the broad and beautiful business degree. Having a background in business will help you in all aspects of your life — from managing your finances to negotiating contracts when you get your book or record deal.

The more you know, the more you can do. You already know how to do whatever your art is; adding a business degree from UNF to your arsenal is a perfect way to become a more well-rounded and overall successful person. By earning this degree, you will learn how to market yourself and your art, how to deal with all kinds of people, and you’ll gain some legal knowledge of the business world.

Initially, my parents forced me into the Coggin College of Business, but what I cursed then I am grateful for now. A business degree is a versatile and an extremely useful addition to your life. It will help you evade those starving times and help you manage your (hopefully) impending artistic success when you do make it.

Worse case scenario, at least you’ll know how to balance your checkbook.

Email Taylor Leckie at [email protected].