I am Nemo in this situation.
This morning, after waking up too early and deliberating (about food, about clothes, etc.) too long, I participated in the student exodus across the northern border of campus - on bikes, on skateboards, and on foot. Once the herd arrives on campus proper, it dissipates, bikes breaking off to glide further into the depths of campus. I'm lucky enough that the SCA (School of Cinematic Arts) is right on the north edge.
A sidebar about the SCA complex: I grew up in suburban New England, and went to college in the rural Midwest. So walking into the complex - built in what's known as the Mediterranean Revival Style - felt like walking into a dream. More specifically, a dream I would have after watching The Mask of Zorro or Roman Holiday. Unlike homey New England brick or the stern Neoclassical lines of Hillsdale College's campus, these buildings have high sandstone arches topped with stucco roofs; long cloisters lit by Old-World Spanish lamps; imposing-yet-whimsical black metalwork gates that are a huge pain to open. Every fifteen feet is another set of couches, benches, or balcony space to sit and write. Every available wall space indoors is covered with vintage and not-so-vintage film or TV posters, signed by the USC graduates who worked on them.
My first class today is indicative of my other three this semester: each is structured like a writer's room, with a group of seven or so students led by a professor, bouncing ideas and offering critiques. I have been fortunate enough to have been placed with a group of students that I already know and am getting to like (the week leading up to classes had been an exciting and exhausting whirlwind of mixers, meeting future classmates and collaborators at a speed that makes writers like me extremely cross-eyed). They come from all over the globe, and bring with them all sorts of experiences. And each of our professors are industry professionals, who have had dozens of their own screenplays produced.
As if that weren't enough, almost every week, the SCA brings in special guests - writers at the top of their craft. Next week, the guest speaker will be Dave Reynolds, the Academy-Award-winning writer of Finding Nemo and the Emperor's New Groove. Also, he's worked on Toy Story 2 and 3, Mulan, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. No big deal. I've only loved all of these children's films since I was, well, a child.
In actuality, this is much of the reason why I am here - not only is USC giving me the education I need to write, but also the connections I need to succeed in writing: by putting us in touch with industry professionals, and making us classmates with future industry professionals, it gives me a network on which to draw. I've already volunteered to work on film sets, and am connecting with people that I know will go very far in life.
I haven't much to say yet about the projects I'm gestating - perhaps for next time.
For those of you who donated to my GoFundMe page (to make sure your money is being spent well!) hello, and thank you so much for donating - I couldn't have made it all the way out here without you, and your notes in the last month or so have warmed my heart.
I am still fairly far from having enough money to make it through the semester, so if you like what you see and want to keep seeing it, please consider donating! In the meantime, I have picked up an on-campus job, and am looking into several more (including working as a bubble-tea barista!), in an attempt to close the gap between the money I have and the money I need.
And, as always, please keep me in your prayers. LA is a big, sometimes frightening city, and I realize more and more that I've thrown myself into a (liberal/filmmaking/city-life/artistic) world that I know very little about. Trying to balance work with school with creativity can be a bit tough, and I need all the prayer I can get!
That's all for now! I have several assignments to get to, and it's getting cold out here as the sun goes down. LA is a strange place.