Forestry school.
Forestry school.
So, those of you that know me really well are like, "WTF?!"
Understandable.
Here's how I arrived at the decision and what it means to me:
1. I've been mostly depressed for two years because I'm in serious debt from grad school and have been feeling less and less desire to work inside the film industry in any sort of company position. When I imagine working in the type of job I could get at a film company, day in and day out, I want to shoot myself. Also, it pays next to nothing until you've been working for about 10 years.
2. The film industry is full of fake people with lousy ideas. My friends are not these, but none of them could afford to hire me right now. I can't stand pretending for the sake of schmoozing and networking.
3. Also, LA proper is a dirty place full of fake people. The nature of the cultural foundations here make it so. People come here from all over and become less and less real. Like the USC cinema school motto: Reality Ends Here. Obviously, this is a generalization. I've met several fabulous people, but most of them got out of here, or plan to.
4. Freelance is rough, and in order to survive, I'd have to take a ton of jobs on films that I think are crappy or with people I don't necessarily like. I have no motivation or self-discipline if I have no passion for the project. Therefore, I would do a crappy job on those projects and not get paid or recommended to others whose projects were worthwhile.
5. When I tried to imagine a job I could do outside of the film industry--with a reasonable amount of stability and pay--I realized I was only qualified for two things: Secretarial and Librarian work. To be a real librarian, I would have to get a 1 year masters degree. This is doable, and I was starting to look into it. I walked to the nearest public library and was going to ask for an application. The woman at the circ desk was a bitch to me. All of the people that I've dealt with at the local libraries are pissy all of the time. I thought, "Could I really stand to work with these people, day in and day out for the rest of my life?" The answer was no. Also, librarianism is a dying service. People just come in to use the internet anyway.
6. I really enjoy teaching subjects that I feel passionate about and know well. I've been teaching and troubleshooting sound design for almost 3 years now. It makes me feel good to help people understand so they can accomplish their goals.
7. I enjoy hiking and camping. The only reason I haven't done more of it, is that I don't have the equipment, and don't know what I'm doing. I hate engaging in activities I know nothing about (I mean in a hands-on way) without some sort of partner or guide to teach me.
8. I feel passionate about nature and the environment.
9. I want someone to help whip me into physical and psychological shape, so that I can be physically and emotionally stronger. In the past few months, I've been whipping myself into shape as much as I can, I just need some pushing.
10. I'm sick of the fakeness of so many corporate jobs. I want real, direct action that will effect direct visual and tactile results.
11. I want to touch the trees.
12. This makes me feel closer to my pagan ideals.
13. I've looked for jobs in forestry and there seem to be a lot of rewarding ones that have benefits and reasonable pay. Jayla can probably speak to me more on the job front in this regard. I know that Wildlife Scientists have a hard time because it's such a competitive field, but I'm more interested in the plantlife and the people.
14. I love to travel. There seem to be jobs in Forestry all around the country.
15. I like to do different things everyday. In this job, every day will be different.
16. So the forestry school is in Reedley, California, which is halfway between LA and San Francisco. It's near Yosemite. The program is a two year associate degree that will make me a qualified forestry technician when I leave. I can probably finish in a year and a half because of my bachelor's degree. If I want, I can take the science and math required to apply for a Master's program that would only take a year. They start you working in the field in semester one, and they have a high job placement rating. Reedley is certified by the Society of American Foresters.
17. It's a community college. It requires no credentials to get in and register. It's in California, which means, as a California resident, I pay only $20 dollars a credit. That means that a fulltime courseload is only $300/semester.
18. Housing in Reedley/Fresno is cheap. A two bedroom apartment with central air and heat and a dishwasher, is only $750/month. A four bedroom house is $1400/month. In LA, I'm paying $1560 for a two bedroom apartment with no central air or heat and no dishwasher.
19. If I'm really not cut out for forestry, I think I'll know in the first semester, at little cost to me.
20. Also, I can incorporate my film skills in the job by producing nature docs and exhibits for parks.
So, those are my reasons and my thoughts in general. Perhaps it all makes more sense? Or perhaps I'm crazy still. What's good is that I'm excited about it. Haven't been this excited in a while.
So, those of you that know me really well are like, "WTF?!"
Understandable.
Here's how I arrived at the decision and what it means to me:
1. I've been mostly depressed for two years because I'm in serious debt from grad school and have been feeling less and less desire to work inside the film industry in any sort of company position. When I imagine working in the type of job I could get at a film company, day in and day out, I want to shoot myself. Also, it pays next to nothing until you've been working for about 10 years.
2. The film industry is full of fake people with lousy ideas. My friends are not these, but none of them could afford to hire me right now. I can't stand pretending for the sake of schmoozing and networking.
3. Also, LA proper is a dirty place full of fake people. The nature of the cultural foundations here make it so. People come here from all over and become less and less real. Like the USC cinema school motto: Reality Ends Here. Obviously, this is a generalization. I've met several fabulous people, but most of them got out of here, or plan to.
4. Freelance is rough, and in order to survive, I'd have to take a ton of jobs on films that I think are crappy or with people I don't necessarily like. I have no motivation or self-discipline if I have no passion for the project. Therefore, I would do a crappy job on those projects and not get paid or recommended to others whose projects were worthwhile.
5. When I tried to imagine a job I could do outside of the film industry--with a reasonable amount of stability and pay--I realized I was only qualified for two things: Secretarial and Librarian work. To be a real librarian, I would have to get a 1 year masters degree. This is doable, and I was starting to look into it. I walked to the nearest public library and was going to ask for an application. The woman at the circ desk was a bitch to me. All of the people that I've dealt with at the local libraries are pissy all of the time. I thought, "Could I really stand to work with these people, day in and day out for the rest of my life?" The answer was no. Also, librarianism is a dying service. People just come in to use the internet anyway.
6. I really enjoy teaching subjects that I feel passionate about and know well. I've been teaching and troubleshooting sound design for almost 3 years now. It makes me feel good to help people understand so they can accomplish their goals.
7. I enjoy hiking and camping. The only reason I haven't done more of it, is that I don't have the equipment, and don't know what I'm doing. I hate engaging in activities I know nothing about (I mean in a hands-on way) without some sort of partner or guide to teach me.
8. I feel passionate about nature and the environment.
9. I want someone to help whip me into physical and psychological shape, so that I can be physically and emotionally stronger. In the past few months, I've been whipping myself into shape as much as I can, I just need some pushing.
10. I'm sick of the fakeness of so many corporate jobs. I want real, direct action that will effect direct visual and tactile results.
11. I want to touch the trees.
12. This makes me feel closer to my pagan ideals.
13. I've looked for jobs in forestry and there seem to be a lot of rewarding ones that have benefits and reasonable pay. Jayla can probably speak to me more on the job front in this regard. I know that Wildlife Scientists have a hard time because it's such a competitive field, but I'm more interested in the plantlife and the people.
14. I love to travel. There seem to be jobs in Forestry all around the country.
15. I like to do different things everyday. In this job, every day will be different.
16. So the forestry school is in Reedley, California, which is halfway between LA and San Francisco. It's near Yosemite. The program is a two year associate degree that will make me a qualified forestry technician when I leave. I can probably finish in a year and a half because of my bachelor's degree. If I want, I can take the science and math required to apply for a Master's program that would only take a year. They start you working in the field in semester one, and they have a high job placement rating. Reedley is certified by the Society of American Foresters.
17. It's a community college. It requires no credentials to get in and register. It's in California, which means, as a California resident, I pay only $20 dollars a credit. That means that a fulltime courseload is only $300/semester.
18. Housing in Reedley/Fresno is cheap. A two bedroom apartment with central air and heat and a dishwasher, is only $750/month. A four bedroom house is $1400/month. In LA, I'm paying $1560 for a two bedroom apartment with no central air or heat and no dishwasher.
19. If I'm really not cut out for forestry, I think I'll know in the first semester, at little cost to me.
20. Also, I can incorporate my film skills in the job by producing nature docs and exhibits for parks.
So, those are my reasons and my thoughts in general. Perhaps it all makes more sense? Or perhaps I'm crazy still. What's good is that I'm excited about it. Haven't been this excited in a while.