I had a "dream job" as a science illustrator. When people asked me about it, I was excited to tell them about the work I did. It combined my loves of art and science, and I enjoyed working with students and constantly learning new technologies. But I had a secret. My work as a part-time adjunct professor, and my freelance clients were not bringing in enough money to support myself. This was compounded by the fact that I was struggling to pay off the $60k in student load debt I had taken on to get a graduate degree. When I talked to other people in the field, many admitted that being an illustrator was only possible because they were in a dual income situation. Every day I felt like I was selling my students a lie. Here I was teaching them to be science illustrators, when I couldn't even support myself. I knew I needed to make a big change if I wanted to reach any of my long term goals, or even support myself in the short term.
I had been tinkering with my o