Well, peeps… The
rumors are true. As of Saturday, May 19th, 2012 I earned a B.A. in
Screenwriting from Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. I
have to say, this last year of college has been an amazing one for me. I’ve
developed some close friendships with some awesome people. I was lucky enough
to end up with probably the best roommates ever. I’m sad to have moved out so
soon, but I’ll be keeping in touch with them. I participated in my first and
last Undie Run. I feel like I’ve grown and matured as a person and young woman.
Now I’m working and saving as much money as I can for one big trip. Either a
roadtrip, or a trip abroad. Maybe even both if I can swing it. I’m happy with
my life, where it’s going, and the people in it. I’ll continue writing, and
working my scripts. And once I’ve eased my travel bug, I’ll be settling into an
entry level job in the industry. But before I get to my all my future plans,
let me start with my Graduation experience.
It's hard to explain what's happening here...
It’s hard to believe that only 3 years ago, I was just
finishing up my freshman year of college, and wondering how the hell I was
going to pay to go to Chapman. The Me three years ago would’ve freaked the fuck
out at the thought of graduating college. The sheer uncertainty of it all scared
me and on some level still does, but not nearly as much as things like that
used to. In fact, I dealt with the scary
reality of graduating from college like any other normal college kid: sheer
denial.
The weeks, days, and hours preceding commencement I spent
freakishly calm. When my family got into town and constantly asked me how I was
feeling, I could honestly say, “Eh, okay, I guess.” The days before graduation
seemed normal to me because I was too busy working and finishing up my scripts.
For some reason it was not registering that I was about to experience such an important
event in my life. I guess I just thought that if I didn’t think about it, it
wasn’t real. And that scenario worked up until the very last second before I was
about to walk across the stage.
And I have to say, the people I sat next to during
Graduation were the best people to share that experience with. It was such a monumental
time in our lives, and we all sat there just joking and freaking out together,
sipping flavored vodka from a water bottle that someone had in their pocket
under their gown; all on the same page, all excited and terrified at the same time.
Look at me, going on like we served in a war together or something. I guess in
a way we did. We experienced college together, shared the good and bad times. It’s
been surreal, and this is just the beginning.
We badass...
Now, graduation day itself probably couldn’t have gone
better. My family from both sides came down, and there were no fights between
them. My best friends that I’ve known for over 10 years came down to watch me
graduate, and I love them so much for coming out to support me. We went out to
dinner after commencement, and had a great time. Then my family went back to
their hotels to let us kids enjoy ourselves. That’s right, we boozed it up like
most college grads that night. My two goals for that night were to get really
drunk and not puke. Guess what? Mission accomplished! I spent that night
drinking and talking with my best friends from home, and a few of my close
friends from Chapman. It was a great night, and more pictures probably should’ve
been taken. While I’ve managed to remain almost disgustingly calm and relaxed
about this frightening new chapter in my life, some of my friends have unfortunately
succumbed to the fear that comes with new uncertainties that come after college
graduation.
I sympathize with my friends who feel like this. I expected
to feel like this, but for some reason I’ve been able to remain calm. Maybe it’s
because I know it’s all going to work out. I have the same fear of failure driving
me, but at the same time, I know that life goes on, and there’s no use worrying
about things when I’m doing everything I can to succeed. I’m actually excited
about all the new things I can experience now that I’m not tied to school work
all year. I want to travel, see new places before I settle down into a job. Well,
I know I have to actually look for a job to settle into, because I too know the
difficulties in finding a job, let alone one in the entertainment industry. I have
tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of student loans looming over my head that
go into payment in December. That scares the shit out of me most of all, but
again, I’ll deal with that when I get to it.
So I hope that my
scared friends realize that we’re still all in the trenches together, but we
can enjoy these supposed awful times as we work our ways to the top. I hope my terrified
colleagues take some time to be young, experience new and fun things, and just
relax before we all become successful industry people with no time to relax. Take
some time to pamper yourselves. After all, we just completed our four year
degrees. At times, it was easy as pie, but there were also those times where we
thought we’d never be able to finish that paper or script in order to pass that
class. So let’s celebrate! I believe we deserve at least this one last summer
to live it up. So cheers to all my graduates of 2012! I love you all, and I
hope you all have an amazing summer!
Cue: Alice Cooper’s School’s Out.
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