C AREER RESEARCH PROJECT By: Chelsea Vasilko

Animator

Animator: As an animator, you design characters, buildings, scenery, machines, etc. To create an animation, the artist uses about 10 – 30 rough pencil sketches, and flips through them, to check how the motions will actually turn out. One of the main ideas, is to create the illusion of movement. Lifestyle & Lifestyle Goals: Being an animator, you would have the chance to travel to different states, and/or countries. To me, I hope to travel to Japan one day, and purchase a small, yet nice house to live in until I have enough money to move into a larger home. But again, I don’t mind having a small house. Location: The plus side to being an animator, is that you can live just about anywhere. Animators are needed in all different places, all over the world. Career Cluster/Interest: The career cluster this occupation falls under, is creative.

10 Characteristics ⋄ A value to have in this career, is how accurately your artwork is. If the drawing makes no sense, and looks like a five-year-old made it, you most likely won’t last very long in the business. Being aware of how shapes and colors, vary, depending on the weather, mood, or time of day, in the animation. ⋄ Responsibilities will include animating a movie or show correctly, using the technical skills of being an artist, and paying close attention to detail. Tasks may be changing the design completely, or taking input from your co-workers, and adding the details in. ⋄ As an animator, you’d be required to work with people and things. Other artists will be around you, and you will have different supplies and other tools to use. ⋄ The workplace can consist of advertising agencies and film/television/animation production companies. Also, some animators can work from their own home. ⋄ Work hours are the standardized 40-hour week. But depending on the project, hours could extend as long as the artist may need. Overtime is a usual factor of working. ⋄ To become an animator, one must be artistic, creative, patient, focused, self motivated/disciplined, and able to work either independently, or with a team. Not all of the art can be done by one person, so the ability to work well with others is an important ability.

⋄ The salary of an animator varies between 35K – 100K. Mainly, it all depends on the importance of the project, and how much you have actually worked on the project. As you get farther into your career, the bigger your name will get, and the more companies will offer you. ⋄ There are jobs for animators all over the United States. The state that employs the most animators is of course, California, then New York, and Washington. ⋄ Internationally, Japan employs several animators, with their production of anime. Preferably to myself, I’d enjoy traveling to Japan to work on the art style for anime. ⋄ The education required, is not that difficult. The standard 4 years of college, and then into 2 years of technical training.

Psychologist: Psychologists diagnose and treat people affected by personal problems and psychological illnesses or disorders. They study the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of the clients, to assist them with their mental issues and worries.

10 Characteristics: ⋄ To be successful in this career, one must acquire patience, and tend to be self- employed. Money will come in at a decent amount, if they do the job correctly, and could become famous, if they can easily identify the illness/disorder that the client may have, and how easily they can fix it. ⋄ The Psychologist is required to aid their clients with a trustworthy and honest person. When the patient is stressed, the psychologist must stay calm to help the patient through their troubles. Being mature is a key component. If the client is having suicidal thoughts, it’s best to handle the situation maturely, and not make fun. ⋄ As a psychologist, the pain focus of their work, are people. The y use data at times, on their clients, but the job is based around the clients. ⋄ The workplace tends to be a school, hospital, government agencies, and colleges. People will always be a part of the workplace as well. ⋄ Hours will usually be the natural 9-5 routine, but hours may vary on the Psychologist him/herself. For the whole week, it tends to be a total of 40 hours, if the schedule stays within the natural office hours.

⋄ The education required, is a four year college degree, and two years of training. That training could consist of being an intern or school psychologist. Classes to take are Health Sciences, Human Services, General Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Family & Consumer Sciences, Child Care & Development, and Marriage & Family Studies. ⋄ The salary can vary between 40K – 110K, depending on the type of psychologist the individual chooses to be. The more experienced individuals can earn closer to the 70K – 110K range. ⋄ To become a psychologist, they must be good with people, their own emotional state must be stable and mature, patience is key, must have critical thinking skills, and most importantly, the individual must be creative. ⋄ Psychologists have an advantage, and can get a job just about anywhere. ⋄ As I said previously, jobs can be found just about anywhere. Even in other countries.