Well I hope that some of you remember me, I used to be fairly frequent around Hatrack but Football, Wrestling and Friends have all gotten in the way lately so I haven't been able to stop by much.
I'm 15, and with this particular age, of course, comes the fear and hopes of the future. To save you a very long and seemingly complicated issue of my life I'll just give you the basics of the situation:
I have no idea what to do.
I mean, I've had thoughts towards the future and there things I'd like to do...I'd really like to be a Director/Writer but any time I try telling someone that they just kind of laugh and give me a sarcastic "Good luck...", In fact my former band teacher, who I talk to every now and then, asked me "What do you want to do when you grow up" and I told him about my hollywood ambitions and he so kindly said "Yeah well, you're going to end up teaching photography at some middle school" and I replied "So, what, did you want to be a rock star?" anyway, the majority of people i talk to try and tell me that I can't do it. And I try to shake it off and tell myself that I can make it. But it just seems so impossible, and I have no idea on how I'll go about it. I've also thought of joining the Army, or perhaps the French Foreign Legion (seriously) and then going to college from there, but should I go to college right after high school? Or should I indeed join the military, get money and training and then go to college?
Oh and to top it all off there's a girl I like and am afraid to ask out. And since our usual guy broke his ribs and hands, I have to fill the varsity heavyweight slot. I am not a varsity heavyweight, let me put it this way I'm 6'2" and weigh 200 lbs and the guys I have to go against are 275 lbs and about 6'5" with about 5 years worth of experience on me, but hey, at least I'll letter this year.
Any advice or output in general would be appreciated.
[Edit for spelling.]
Posts: 163 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I had a similar dilemma. ***Caution!!! Long story ahead. Feel free to skip to the advice in the last paragraph.*** When I was in high school, my dream was to be a Broadway Actress. Like you, everyone told me how impractical this dream was. But I loved being on stage, being someone else for a while. So I decided to go for it, and went to college as a Theatre Major.
The trouble was, much as I loved it, I can't really act. One morning I woke up and said to myself, "You didn't get any parts in high school. You aren't getting any parts in college. What makes you think you will make it in the real world? You are spending a lot of time and money to be a waitress. You can do that without a degree."
So I dropped out of school and became a waitress. And a telemarketer. And a papergirl. And a deli-girl. Now, I enjoyed working with food and with people, but I would come home from absolutely exhausted. Finally I said to myself (yes, I talk to myself a lot), "If you are this tired at 25, it is not going to get any better. You need to find a real job."
Now, the question was, what did I want to be now that I was ready to grow up? After much thought, I decided I wanted to be a librarian. So I went to the local state college and registered. But Library Science was not one of the degrees offered. On further investigation, I discovered that Library Science is a Masters degree. Now, if I had just stuck it out and finished my Theatre BA back the first time I went to school, I would have been able to go straight on into grad school. As it was, I had to spend two years finishing up a BA before I could get going on what I really wanted to do.
Now, everything has worked out well. Old Maid Librarian is maybe not so glamourous a job as Broadway Actress would have been, but I am currently in Hawaii working on my MLISc. If all goes well, I should be in a real job before I'm 30.
So my advice to you? Don't wait too long before going to college, and don't drop out halfway through, even if you think your degree will be worthless. It won't be. Even if it is only your ticket to grad school. If Hollywood really is your dream, consider majoring in theater. Just because I bombed out doesn't mean you will. And I repeat, Don't Drop Out, even if you decide theater is no for you after all! Either change your major or finish it out, but don't quit. While the army will give you money to go to school, they expect a lot in return. Don't join the army unless it is something you actually want to do; if you are thinking of it only as a way to pay for school, take out a student loan. Ask the girl out. If she says no, then you won't go out with her, which is exactly the same thing that will happen if you don't ask her. (Yes, I know this is easier said than done.)
Oh, and good luck with your wrestling!
Posts: 364 | Registered: Dec 2005
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First things first, do you have talent? I want an honest assessment of your abilities.
People say that you can be anything you want to be, but that's simply not true. I respect people like Amilia who step back and evaluate their dreams. Dreams don't always have to be feasible, but if you're going to invest a lot of time and money into them and if they're going to affect the rest of your life, you'd better decide if they're worth it or not. You have to think about what will happen if you don't get what you want, not just about all the great things that will happen if you do.
As long as you have a back up plan, you'll be okay. When I tell people I'm a philosophy major, they laugh. "What're you going to do with that?" Then I tell them I'm also an economics major. They retreat.
People are always going to judge the direction in which you guide your life, but you know yourself best. I think the wisest course of action is to listen to their advice, consider it, and then weigh your options and decide what the smartest thing for you to do is.
As far as the military and the girl go, I completely agree with Amilia. If you can't ask her out, work up to it. Do you talk to her a lot? If not, you really should. If you already do, then don't go straight to asking her to be your girlfriend or anything like that. Give her subtle signs that you're interested, and see what you get in return. Play it by ear from there.
I know it's a lot easier to give advice than to take it, but I hope it all works out.
Posts: 866 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I went to a school that had a really good film school as one of their programs. There were a lot of people in it. I know of the eventual career progression for 3 of them. They all ended up employed in Hollywood making money. I don't think any of them became film directors, but they are all employed in the industry and seem to be pretty happy with their choices. One guy worked his way through editing into directing, for television.
Many of us major in a subject and don't end up working directly in it, or doing exactly what we expected we would when we started.
Heck, at 15 you aren't even expected to know what all the career options are.
I figure you can do some things now to figure out if you like that industry, and then apply to the various film schools when you are ready for college. There'll be plenty of time to see if your interests are piqued by something other than directing, or whether you will enjoy working you way up in that industry.
When the time comes to choose a career, just try to do something that excites and interests you.
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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Note: This post is directed to the career-advice portion of your question. I'd also direct you to a similar Hatrack thread. As a 23-year-old bachelor who can count his former girlfriends on one hand, I'm not the one to turn to for relationship advice
First off, ignore all of the people who when you tell them your ambitions. I'm talking about the "well-intentioned" adults in your life that say such asinine things as "yeah right, so what are you going to do for a Real Job?" These people are idiots and you would do well to associate with smarter people.
Second, understand that by "smarter people" I do NOT mean those who say, "of course, dear, you can be anything you want to be" and then give you no indication as to what steps to take or work to do to actually accomplish your goals. These people are as dangerous to your future as the first group. In fact, listening to them and believing what they say pretty much guarantees that the prediction made by the first group will come true.
What I'm saying, is that it takes WORK to acheive your goals, especially in a competitive industry such as the film and television industry. Homer Hickam, the highly successful author of Rocket Boys (later adapted to make the movie October Sky) and other memoirs once was asked to sign a book with a personalized statement saying to "remember to dream big, and they will come true." Hickam refused, telling the fan that asked him that he didn't get to the national high school science fair by dreaming. He went out and built a rocket.
So how does this apply to you? You said you're 15 years old. How many screenplays have you written? How many of them have you filmed? When wrestling ends this spring, go out and make a movie. You can borrow a camera from a local library, and edit using a cheap iMac with the latest version of Mac OS and iMovie loaded on. Even if you wanted to buy your own equipment, you can do it all for less than $1000, which is easily attainable with a few months in a part-time job.
In the film industry, there is no better training than experience. Peter Jackson started making movies when he was 8 years old. Start now developing your skills, and by the time you get to college or film school you'll have a jump on 80% of the rest of the freshmen. What are your plans for this summer? Summers are the perfect time for motivated high-school students to work on developing their post-high school skills. One area you can get loads of experience is with the local public television (PBS) affiliate. I volunteered as a phone answerer for the fundraising telethon, and two days later was given the chance to operate one of their TV cameras. In three days, I learned a great deal about how a television studio works.
Remember, your aspirations of becoming a Hollywood writer or director are 100% attainable, if you are willing to work and sacrifice to acheive them. It may take many years of working up the entertainment industry latter, but you can do it. All you need is to be hungry enough for it that you won't let anything stop you. So get to work.
Posts: 786 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I agree with those who have posted about assessing your talent. Do you have a teacher at school who has told you that you are a decent writer? Do you get OK grades on your papers and such? Write something on your own, not for school, and take it to a teacher whose opinion you trust and ask them what they think. I have kids do that to me all the time and they are only 12.
You might also consider a major in Radio, Television and Film, rather than theater, although there are great tech theater programs out there too. It just seems that RTF might be a better fit since you are looking to be behind the scenes rather than in them.
As for going into the military first, in these times that is a more dangerous option than it was before 9/11 (in my opinion, I am sure others will disagree). Often those who leave the military do so with few job skills they can use in the civillian world and are too tired and burned out to go to college right away. I speak from experience. My husband and many of his friends had this problem and he has struggled with his job history for 10 years since he left the Marines. He is finally in a stable job and going back to school but only because I push him to go every semester. My father on the other hand did college first, graduated and entered the Air Force. He was a career man, retiring after 20 years in his mid 40's. He uses skills from both his LONG stint in the military and his time in college now and is still very successful while drawing retirement money from the military. But he also never had to fight in a war, as you will likely be called to do if you join now. So if you were my son, I would give you the advice NOT to choose the military. Do college first and pursue your dream.
Ask the girl out. Just do it. Girls like guys who are direct but not cocky and that seems to apply to you. Don't ask and you will always wonder what she would have said.
Posts: 1319 | Registered: Jul 2005
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when you tell them your ambitions. I'm talking about the "well-intentioned" adults in your life that say such asinine things as "yeah right, so what are you going to do for a Real Job?" These people are idiots and you would do well to associate with smarter people.
