Many years ago, I was graduating high school, and had a choice to make.

I had to choose between two fields of study.

Looking back now, I realise that there is so much more that I could have done, if only I had chosen to expand my choices and not limited myself to the desires of my parents, or at least the budgetary constraints they placed upon me, when it came time to choose what to study.

I ended up choosing that route that they were pressurizing me to take, and I chose wrongly. This resulted in me leaving university without my degree, having changed my major several times throughout 2.5 years, after reaching the realisation that it was just not for me.

16 years later, after numerous jobs, career paths, I decided that it was time to fulfil my dream of becoming a graphic designer.

There are a few personality traits required to become a graphic designer.

These include:

• An isatiable desire to be creative
• A medium degree of skill and creativity when it comes to design (although *much* can be taught)
• The desire to spend long hours on the computer, perfecting techniques
• To not be afraid of rejection, design is very often a matter of personal taste

My own personal journey toward becoming a graphic designer, started when I began working part time as a freelance photograper, shortly after my first child was born. I knew that I never wanted to work in a stuffy office environment again, and so freelancing was the chosen path for me. Though having said that, there are hundreds of different career paths that you can take with graphic design as a skill set, and it all comes down to personal choice, work style, and opportunity. 

You may be more of a technologically minded person, and wish to follow the web development route, or you may prefer a more creative track and go for pure identity design. Rest assured the options are practically endless, the work opportunities abundant, and if you work hard, the opportunities will find you.

So in doing the photographic work, and realising then that I still had my eye for design, I begain to notice that I preferred the post processing of my photographs, even more than taking the original photos. (Though my affinity with photography remains strong, and it's more of a professional hobby now).

I purchased a Macbook, in order to show clients the photographs shortly after the photographic shoot.  A graphic designer friend gave me their old Adobe Creative Suite (CS3) when they upgraded, and I began to experiment with the various programs in the collection.

I soon realised that I would need to take a course, in order to better familiarise myself with the deep functionality that the programs offered, and I soon found a wonderful online course offered by Australian College QED, who accept students globally, and have very reasonable payment terms.

The course specialises in the use of the program Adobe InDesign CS3, the program which is now considered standard in the design world, and is fast replacing other legacy programs such as Quark and Pagemaker. It allows you to create everything from multipage documents and books, to business cards, and packaging design.

It is thoroughly exciting! I am not even half way through it yet, but it is of such a nature that already I have begun to source clients and earn a good steady income from providing people with graphic design services. In fact, I've just recently upgraded from my Macbook to the new 21.5" iMac, and am currently awaiting it's delivery with much anticipation!

I can highly recommend online study for those people wanting to make a career change later in life, as I have done.

Studying toward online degrees and diplomas of course, is not for everyone, and you may prefer a more structured classroom type environment. Online diplomas work for me, because of my two young children, and rather hectic schedule at the moment.

There are many places that offer evening classes too, if you are bound to those hours by the day job that you are desperate to escape, or perhaps you are wanting to switch roles in your current company. A simple google search will certainly serve up more information than you can digest in one lifetime.

The advice I can offer is this:

• Research your diploma/school/degree of choice thoroughly to ensure you are getting value for money, and a certification that is recognised by the right governing bodies.
• Prepare your finances and family accordingly, studying and working and running a household is not an easy undertaking.
• GO FOR IT! The only thing stopping you is you.

I wish you the best of success in your endeavours.