A little more...

I was 19, you remember 19?  The” I know everything, don’t try to tell me anything, leave me alone” time of your life?  Well, I remember it well. I had just returned from an ill-fated stay in Southern CA, where I realized I was not the California Dreamin’ girl I thought I was and that I was in fact a true hearted Midwesterner who missed her family dearly.  I was so ready to get back to the life I left.  I enrolled at the community college I had once bad mouthed just a couple years ago.  I was hungry for learning and getting on with my life, and I excelled at my classes.  Still though, not having a specific direction, I was concerned immensely. Always looking for some sort of “sign” wherever I would go. To say I was struggling at the time is an understatement.

I remember standing in my kitchen along with my sis Trish and her boyfriend Greg.  He was paging through a yellow catalogue and I asked to see it.  It was the Fall offering of courses at Columbia College Chicago.  I didn’t even know this place existed. 

I am a serious film buff and it was the Film and Video program that drew my attention.  I guess you can say it was an epiphany because I immediately knew, this was my next step.  Classes were starting in just a few weeks; the timing was perfect. A huge weight had just been lifted.  And, so the next leg of my journey began. 

First day of classes, Film Tech 1; I won’t bore you with what I was wearing, but I do remember!  Doe Mayer was the instructor.  She is related to Louis B Mayer one of the co-founders of MGM studios, which I thought was pretty cool!  One by one she went around the classroom asking each of us why we were there.   And one by one each student would say “I would like to eventually write, produce and direct my own film”.  So, when it came to me, I said exactly what everyone else had said!  When in reality, I had no idea!  What I really wanted to say is “Honestly? I don’t really know; I do know I want to be here; in this school, in this classroom, surrounded by these people that love films and the making of them just as much as I do.  To have some role no matter how big or small in the making of films.  I want to learn all aspects of filmmaking and let nature take its course as I find my strengths and weaknesses.”  I was always disappointed in myself for not admitting the truth, so now I feel much better. 😊

And so, it began and after 3 years I found my strength in cinematography where I was eager to help anyone on a project where I could be behind the camera, and I found my weakness was networking.  I just wanted to work on my own.  And then I discovered the 35mm still camera…

Thanks for joining me., I hope you enjoyed this even a tiny bit😊