I love what I love.
We were all born with a different purpose in this world, and I truly believe that anyone and everyone should be able to pursue what they know they've been called to do. They should enjoy what they do, because it's their passion. When I was younger, I was never honest with myself, nor could I fully accept the fact that my career path was going to be an unstable and risky one. I like to think I can attribute that to my naiveness or my whimsical imagination. However, now that I'm older, I am beginning to see the reality of what I've been called to do. I am beginning to see the dreams I had as a child quickly fading into a high-pressure society, filled to the brim with people craving the same job as me. I'm no longer completely original.
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This is the truth that everyone attempts to inform you of when your little, but doesn't actually hit you until you're in college, or have already blended in with the industry. And when it hits you, it hits you smack in the face, trying with all of its power to stop you and make you turn around. Luckily, I'm stubborn, and I don't believe the industry will ever manage to pluck me from the pool of wanna-be-writers and throw me out. I have an attitude of determination and perseverance; I signed up for this and now I'm in it for the long haul. And I honestly couldn't be happier.
Until about the middle of my senior year of high school, I was dead-set on going to school for biology. I was going to be a doctor. For my friends who just met me in college, they would probably read that and be extremely confused. They didn't know me back when I was in high school... I was a total nerd for anything biomedical. I still am. I keep up with my Grey's Anatomy. I went to a tech-y high school that over-prepared students for careers in bio-med, and I will be forever grateful of the amazing education I received there. Regardless of this education, there was a major downside in constantly being flooded with only technical and smarty-pants career paths. I was never exposed to the arts in high school, and this put be in a box. I had never even considered a career in the arts because for years, from both family and school, I was told that you will never move forward or get ANYWHERE with a major in the arts.
I'm here today to tell you that is complete bull poop.
First of all, I would like to address... or more-so question... why people say "the arts don't get you anywhere". Maybe the arts don't make you a doctor. But if everyone was a doctor and there were no TV show writers/producers, Grey's Anatomy wouldn't be a thing, and the awesome work of doctor's would be lost. That's right. People wouldn't even know who doctors are or what they do without the arts. Creators even add special effects, and medical facts that might stretch the truth, to make things more interesting. Majoring in the arts gets artists exactly where they need to go. Success to artists is measured differently than success might be measured by a scientist or mathematician. It's this entirely different realm of people and jobs, where creators can be a part of something new and different. This can be hard for many parents and many normal people (yes, I said normal, because us art people are freaks) to understand. We don't jump into art blind, we fall into art because it's the only place our hearts can feel at home.
The truth about the path I've chosen is that it's rough. It will get worse before it starts to get better. There will be days when I want to rip my hair out because something isn't going as planned, and then there will be moments where I'll be recognized for doing hard work. I won't make an exuberant amount of money, and I won't be on the cover of Rolling Stone at the age of twenty-one. I think people have the wrong idea going into the industry sometimes. They look at magazine covers and read stories about the young-and-famous and think that that's how it must happen for everyone. The people who truly belong in this field are the people who are so in love with entertainment that they'd live on the streets with nothing but a camera in their hands. The passionate don't do it for the money or the fame- they do it for their love of the arts. I would work three jobs to pay rent in New York for a crappy apartment, just to go out and explore the city with my camera. I would work behind-the-scenes with no one ever seeing my face, writing for TV shows, until I die. Because it's what I love to do, and I wouldn't give it up for the world.
A common phrase around my campus with film students is that "we try to explain to our parents what we do, but they don't get it." They never will. I'm not trying to be mean, but it's the type of industry where you can never see success right there in front of you. You never truly reach a level of comfort. You are constantly moving, and your occupation might be constantly changing. If you tell your parents that you get to work on a small pilot show in New York, they won't know what to say to that. Because in their minds, they can't predict what might come next for you. And that can be scary for a parent. I had to accept and understand my parents point of view when I chose this path; they will always have questions, and that is definitely not a bad thing. It's exciting for me to know I've gone to study something many are still unfamiliar with. Media is still fairly new, and we are still learning new ways to utilize every aspect of it. My field won't be dying out any time soon.
I love questions because it allows me to give answers that spark a passion in me. I will never grow tired of using my camera to snap the simplest of objects as I walk down the street, and I will never stop writing things in my buddy journal (this is the name I've given to the small, moleskin journal I carry with me at all times to jot down thoughts and ideas that may spark ideas for a film). Even if film never brings in money for me, I will always promote creativity and exploring your talents. It's not what everyone will do for a living, but it's what anyone and everyone can do to spread a message that everyone needs to see or hear. That's really what the arts are all about for me. It's also an amazing, experimental outlet. I love simply getting my foot wet in different types of projects, regardless if it's something I'll stick with. Always be thinking about your purpose and your calling before anything else in life. Money will come, but happiness and loving what you do should come first.
My advice to art majors? Keep creating. My advice to people who are afraid to go into the arts? Start creating. There's no better time than right now.
