Hot for Learnin'
I think of all the education that I missed
But then my homework was never quite like this.- From “Hot for Teacher” by Van Halen
Once I understood what I am really passionate about, I have become the student I’ve always wanted to be. I have always really creative and really interested in crafting stories. I learned to read when I was two (brag). I distinctly remember making up stories about the adventures of an ant while walking to the store on errands for my mother. And by “making up” I mean telling the stories to myself out loud as I walked. I can’t imagine how people who may have passed me must have thought.
My sisters and I played Barbies for hours. We had actual storylines that we followed. I’m sad that we never recorded them or wrote them down because I’m sure that they were amazing. When we played video games, I scored them with music that I thought fit better. To this day I don’t remember what songs for the Sonic the Hedgehog game sound like. To me, Sonic the Hedgehog will be forever linked to Mary J. Blige’s “What’s the 411?” album. I majored in Communications because I wanted to be a storyteller like Oprah. I find the funny in everyday life on stage as an Improviser. I paint the picture of a world lost in my photography of abandoned spaces. Everything in me reflects someone that is interested and dedicated to the understanding of what people are made of, how they feel, and how they relate to others.
But for years, those interests were forced to fit in a lockstep way of conferring information. I’m not saying that I had a bad education, I had a great one. I’m also not saying that subjects like math and science aren’t important to me. They are. Well, math is still an emotional challenge. Anyway - What I’m posing is that I had to figure out how to balance those interests along with everyone else’s expectations of what those interests should be. There’s a point when the expectations are so heavy that you have to put your passions on the back burner. I went after degrees that would ensure that I would have a job, insurance, connections, things that we’re taught that you’re supposed to want.
But what happens between getting what you need, and figuring out what you want? What happens in the space between graduation (at any level) and your demise? Do you just…stop learning stuff? Fulfilling the requirements of my master’s degree (I need to bring this up as much as possible because I’m still paying for it) can’t be it, right?
Once I figured out what I really wanted - to become a storyteller for television, that’s when the learning really began.
(I mean, the world has stopped in its tracks and is literally on fire and we can’t go outside anyway, so you might as well put those hours of despair to use, right?)
So I went back to school. Not an official school, but a school of my own making. For the past two years, I have been dedicated to learning as much as I possibly can about the things that make me happy. I did a full deep dive into improv and screenwriting (with a side trip to learn how to play drums. This was essential for my development). I read everything my teachers have given me and then searched to find MORE things to read about. I wake up excited for the moment when my day job ends and I can jump back into homework. I was taking naps because I was up all night taking live online classes based in LA and Denver. I started writing spec scripts and humor pieces on my own - for fun. I was creating stories again. Is this the feeling that people who sat at the front of the class got to experience? How did it take me so long to get back here?
The big lesson here? Just do what you want. Seriously. Once you have fulfilled Society’s action items for your life (job, money, paying your light bill), send yourself back to school! Build your own curriculum that reflects subjects that make your heart beat. Become your own Director of Enrollment and Curriculum Management. My College of Making Things That Are Funny requires 50 credit hours of Television and Satire Writing, with 20 hours of Improv. I made those numbers up, it’s probably more than that, but since I don’t have to meet any sort of curriculum rubric, I can change the requirements at will! The sheer power of taking control of your education is intoxicating, and so so much fun.
