Face Palm

Pumeco, you clearly haven't the slightest clue how this industry really works or the history of it.

"industry standards" has nothing to do with snobbery and everything to do with getting the job done fast, the right way, the first time. 

If Blender was such an awesome tool, then all the biggest studios would be using it, and all the biggest schools would be teaching it. Why would they spend thousands on Autodesk when they can spend zero on Blender? A company's number one priority - regardless of the industry it serves - is to maximize profit and minimize overhead. They're not using Maya or Lightwave or Cinema4D because they love spending wads of money. They're using it because they love MAKING money, and those packages provide the results they need and want. 30 years ago there were very few CG artists and even fewer studios for them to work in. Very few software packages existed at the time that could accomplish what those studios needed. As time went on the major studios worked with the software companies to develop software that met those needs, because they had the resources to fund that development, and from that, industry standards were born.  

When Blender first launched it was a complete failure. Virtually nobody wanted it or were willing to pay for it. It was completely un-intuitive to the majority of its users (and still is) and it failed as a software company. (By intuitive I mean easy to learn and use, all the features are accessible without having to dig through a hundred different menus and memorizing where this or that function is, or where it's been moved to with the latest update - something Blender's developers still have not grasped after well over 15 years of development - to the point now that they can't change the UI without pissing off their loyal users, so they're kind of stuck at the moment). The only reason it still exists today is because its developers decided to make it open-source instead of shelving it. And that's great, because the indie market needs software it can learn on and produce it's own art with. I have nothing against people using blender. I'm glad it exists. It's been a great success as an open-source, no-cost alternative to the starving artists who just want to learn and create art. I don't believe anyone should be prevented from creating simply because they don't have the funds to learn. On top of that it has helped to grow the indie market substantially, taking the reigns out of the hands of the giant Hollywood and video game moguls and giving them at least some bit of competition, and in turn some good art for people to enjoy. I appreciate the existence of a lot of the freeware open-source software that has come along over the years. But they are no replacement for the software that I and many others prefer to use, and it has nothing to do with snobbery and everything to do with ease of use and quality results. And sorry but Blender does not do everything Maya does, not by a long shot, and definitely not easier. I can say that from first-hand experience with both programs. It can produce similar results, with a whole lot more frustration and time spent, but it is not a replacement for Maya or any of the other high-end software. If it were then more professionals would be using it. But the bottom line is, use what you want, be a pioneer and show the world what Blender and Gimp and all the other open-source software is capable of. Meanwhile I'll be using the software that I prefer to use and the software that will get me hired - either as a freelancer or in a studio. I'm not picky, I just have no interest in being a rebel, cause that doesn't pay my bills.

And as far as student loans go, my debt is my own fault. It's not because I went to school so much as it is due to the BS and drama I had to deal with while I was going to school, from someone who I thought I could trust and stupidly getting involved with when I had no business being involved with, and allowing my relationship with that person to take precedence over my education. THAT is the main reason why I'm in the situation I'm in now. It's an extremely long and twisted story tho and it's in the past, thankfully.