Pairing a B.A. Spanish degree with B.A. Industrial Design

Hey there, I’m hoping I can get an insider’s perspective on my current situation—just whatever comes off the top of your head regarding my plans would be much appreciated.

I have a B.A. in Spanish and I work as a medical interpreter currently. I’ve been researching a potential career switch for about a year now, and I’ve been accepted into the DAAP at UC for ID for the fall semester of 2015 (for a second bachelor’s).

I’m 24 and the program at DAAP is a 5 year program. I’m afraid that being 29/30 years old when I finish a bachelor’s may present some problems for me regarding prospective employment (when I was looking into architecture a fellow at a firm told me as much about his field). Would my age be a hindrance?

Tuition in the US is exorbitantly expensive and I’m weighing the pros and cons of a B.A. in ID vs. the 3.5 years of tuition I’d have to pay at a state school, given that the salary prospectus for ID students isn’t out of this world and I’m VERY wary of accruing any significant amount of student debt (i.e. I don’t want my student debt to handicap me for the rest of my adult life…), so if anybody could give me their impressions of the job outlook for a bilingual English/Spanish UC graduate, that would be much appreciated. I suspect that being bilingual in the ID field doesn’t give you as much of a leg up as in other fields, but I hope I’m wrong.

I was also thinking I could do medical interpreting part time to offset the costs of tuition and maintain my Spanish fluency (which is very important to me), but I have also read that it’s better to take advantage of ALL your time to develop your skills and not mess with part time employment that might hinder your studying. Once again, your first impressions on all of this would be very well-received and much appreciated.

Thank you for your attention! As a show of my appreciation, here is a picture of an ostrich: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Spanish won’t give you an advantage unless the company you end up working for has a studio or clients in a country that speaks Spanish. Even then, your number one job will be to design not interpret.
Chinese on the other hand would be helpful because most manufacturing is done overseas. Many designers travel to China to oversee development and initial production.
Age shouldn’t matter if you’re willing to start as a junior designer at age 29. I know few designers that graduated on their late twenties.
Cost and debt; that’s your decision. I chose CSU Long Beach to work part time while I went to school and graduate without student debt. I would recommend not working the last 2 years unless it’s a Design internship which will be way more valuable.
At the end, your portfolio will be the most important factor in getting you a job.
Good luck