Even if you dive right in and do 100 auditions next year (if you can even GET 100) auditions, you will most likely NOT make enough money to pay your rent, much less student loans.
Can I ask what kind of job you would have expected to be able to get right out of grad school? Or, rather, what your father expected? People don't waltz out of a masters on to the Met stage. Okay...a couple have, but that is NOT the norm.
Most of us who post on this board do something else to support our singing. We have day jobs. We teach (either privately or with a school). We take auditions when we can, and hope for the best, recognizing the 2% success rate (100 meaningful auditions equals 2 jobs).
The fact of the matter is that our society really doesn't value artists in the way they value business. They say they do, but ultimately artists are really just the hired help or the trained monkeys. I say this without a twinge of bitterness, mind you. The sooner you can accept this fact, the easier the business will be for you. That said, it will never be comfortable, and you will have to work harder than you ever imagined you could - even at the top of the field.
As for the money thing, I advise you to find a high-paying day job of some kind to pay off the credit card ASAP. Consolidate your loans so that your monthly payments are as low as possible. Student loans are like mortgages. You just pay them and it doesn't matter if you pay them for the rest of your life (you know they die with you, right)?
Use your vacation days to audition. Hope for the best.
When you start singing more often, quit the day job and switch to temping (find a way to get health insurance) so that you have more flexibility.
Good luck. We are all a bunch of crazies to even be pursuing this business. It's not for the faint of heart.
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"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it." - Pablo Picasso |