I'm a high school junior and have really been working hard to try to determine what career I want to pursue, what courses I want to take, and what college I want to attend. I recently realized that the combination of my love for photography and my love for animals could be combined if I chose to pursue wildlife photography. It seems picture perfect to me, considering I've never wanted any type of office job and I would absolutely LOVE to travel. I'm definitely observing that it's extremely hard to breakout into this world, using wildlife photography as a sole source of income, which is really discouraging, but hey, that's reality. It's something I'm becoming more and more interested in doing and I intend on doing everything I possibly can to achieve it.
With that said, I have several questions. What should I study in college? What I've seen from my previous research suggests, obviously, several photography courses, marketing, journalism or creative writing, web design, public speaking, and most importantly, a major in something related to animals. I've looked at TONS of animal-related majors, and I'm a little disappointed. Although I love animals more than anything, I do not feel the same way about science. I am more of an reading/writing/art/communications person, rather than science or math. A solid 90% of majors relating to animals are practically all science. Comparative psychology is the only thing I've been able to find having to do with animals that seems to be interesting or enjoyable. Is this sufficient, or does the course have to be a form of science?
In addition, what is a reputable school that has a good photography program, but also looks at academics? I have great grades and I want to be able to use them to my advantage in receiving scholarships. I feel that, realistically, I'm going to have to stay in-state (Illinois), but I'm definitely open to other suggestions.
Please, please, please add any other advice you may have for me, I really appreciate your time.
Thanks.