27 years old, graduated with a degree in video production but spent the last five years riding out a retail job. Feel lost, not sure what I can do.

I was in a weird spot a couple years ago. I had finished by bachelor's degree. I had a fairly stable job. Yet, I wasn't super thrilled at the thought of staying where I was for the rest of my life. I wasn't sure where to go next either. I only had some rough ideas.

My friend encouraged me to pursue one of those rough ideas and apply to grad school. He said it couldn't hurt, so I did that after he had convinced me. I got accepted in my dream school (Carnegie Mellon University).

It was ridiculously stressful to try something new (mainly because of the minimal resources I had available at the time), but I think it was a neat experience. Just taking it up a notch and trying something extremely different helped give me some more clear focus about next stages in my life while adding a little flavor/spice to my existing predicament.

I didn't really like my undergrad that much, but I really like Carnegie Mellon and can't recommend it enough. Here are a couple programs that might fall within your interests (and of course there are many more you can look through),

http://www.etc.cmu.edu/

http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/school-of-public-policy-management/entertainment-industry-management-meim/index.aspx

Alternatively, if you don't feel like giving out a huge chunk of $$$ to a college, app dev. has a fairly low barrier for entry. It just takes a lot of time and persistence to learn. If you already have some of the editing/graphic design background, you will be in a sweet spot after learning some programming.

Lynda, Khan Academy, etc. are pretty good resources to start doing some app dev.

Just, do a little more searching, take aim, and take the plunge. I'm sure whatever you choose will be a fun adventure to reignite your passion.

/r/Advice Thread