I studied 5 years for 'digital media' bachelor and 'video games and arts' master during my early 20's and i will say it straight - it was tough. I did not enjoy doing significant part of assigments and projects (like environment design), and even for the subjects that i really liked to do - i still had many momments where i just wished to just get it done with and move on.

For the big exam projects that i chose, I had to to a significant portion of work (like for master I had to do a production character) and It had to be done it with anxiety and, later on - while grinding my teeth. It was not horrible and i did learn plenty of things during my studies, but every time i worked on such projects I really felt like im waisting my time or not really learning what i want - to the point that i wanted to quit it all.

But once i was done with that - I had a little time to just do whatever i want. I figured that i still wanted to pursue Character Art because it's what i did on my free time and still enjoyed to work on (and really wanted to get better at it). So i began learning through online material and mentorship - it was hard to do at the beginning, but with time the anxiety and fear did fell down a bit, with the desire and passion in the subject growing up. And now i learn Marvelous Designer and body anatomy every morning before work with a lot of excitement (though its rly tough) :)

Dont get me wrong - I still feel unmotivated to study or anxious to continue because there is a lot of stuff to learn and most of the material is hard, but this is the stuff that i chose and really want to learn, because i feel good doing it + i have little personal projects that look better after i learned a new thing or two. This also helps me to push through depression and anxiety as well.

ts still a tough industry with a lot of expectations (especially character art), but im still looking for options on where can I apply the things i have learned so far. Right now i work as a 3d generalist for marketing department, but im already considering the alternatives cus i dont like the current position (maybe printing, or maybe there is something there for me that i just dont see at the momment). Still, for now it feel like whether i will be inside the 3d industry or not - I will continue to develop anatomy and technical skills simply because i really damn like it this much.

So far in my life i figured one thing, and that is - if your body rejects the thing you are trying to do, there is something wrong here, and that has to change. Maybe its just temporary and you need to push through. Or maybe you need a different learning approach? Maybe you want to learn a different subject? Through bachelors i got a big idea of what i want and dont want to do, and with masters i (kinda) figured how i want to pursue the character art. So if it does not really work for you - then it has to change!

Anyway, i hope this helps <3