A few months ago, I went to a happy hour/networking social event in Beverly Hills thrown by a couple of friends. Since they were working on a movie project and I’m a writer, I thought it would be a good way to meet people who have similar interest.
As the evening progressed and conversations became more relaxed (alcohol was involved) a few begin to speak about their alma-mater. These guys were talking about some heavy duty schools: Chapman, UCLA, USC, and NYU and for a few seconds it crossed my mind that I might not belong here.
I attended a small college in North Carolina right after high school. I majored in Secretarial Science (what the hell was I thinking) but I ended up dropping out before I was done and for a couple of years I was embarrassed by that fact. I remember attending a job fair at a company and during the application process when I got down to the ‘list your education’ section, I left because I just knew I was the only one who did not have a college degree. A year later, I went back to the same company and was hired and during my 5 years there, I was promoted twice. Even after that validation each time the fall season would roll around, I would dread the idea of young college students joining the company with the fear that I would be replaced.
It took me a long time to get over not having a degree. When colleges advertise to students on the importance of getting an education, the selling point is how much salary a college student can make vs. just having a high school diploma. I remember speaking to a friend about returning to school and she commented on how much more money I could make and how it would help me move up in the company. I didn’t want to tell her that I made a lot more than some of my friends who have a BA.
What about the arts? For acting, music and writing is a degree necessary? This question haunts me once in awhile. In the last 10 years, I’ve gone back twice but I had to drop out because of finances.
I personally love being in school. Not so much when I was young but as an adult, I find college very rewarding. However, I’ve had teachers who’ve read my scripts and/or short stories ask me why I was attending school. My answer was that I felt it was necessary to learn the technical skills of writing since I felt I already possessed the talent. I now have learned those skills from attending Cerritos College for two years and a year at LMU. I am in no way a grammatical perfectionist but I know enough to string together a sentence or two. Plus, I’ve worked with enough college graduates in senior positions who are terrible writers and spellers.
I’d like to think my passion and creativity would be enough to become a published author or to get an agent but I can’t help but wonder. Nonetheless, I know that there are many ways to get an education. My life in itself has allowed me to become worldly-wise. My plan is to go back to school. Why? Simple. I’m always looking on ways to grow and to challenge myself. However, I will not let not having a degree stop me from writing.
Being a writer is not mechanical or technical. It’s spiritual and imaginative. It’s inventive in its artistic realm. It’s a written-word inflection on life at its very core.
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