Back to School, Again

 USC's fall semester started up this week, and I began my second year in the MFA program in Production, focusing on Writing and Directing. Fight On! *rolls eyes*

Last year was so intense that I didn't have a moment to breathe, much less blog about my experience, but here are a few highlights:

- My daughter started kindergarten at the same time I entered the MFA program

- Although there are a few older students returning to school to try to make a career change, most of the people in my cohort are young enough that I could technically have been their parent. They're all incredibly talented and interesting, but they are having a completely different experience than I am, socializing around the clock, volunteering on films whenever they can, and falling in and out of love with each other at a rapid pace. We screened Mrs. Robinson in one of the group classes, which I felt pret-ty uncomfortable about, not that I have designs on any of these youngsters. Overall, I'm friendly with most everyone, and yet feel incredibly isolated (I am good at making myself feel that way, though, in any situation).

- I made a sci-fi adventure short as my final project last year that is flawed but that I really like.

- I balanced a sometimes heavy workload as a consultant in unscripted at Amazon, being the single (only) parent of a 5-year-old, and being a full-time student. And still, I had to take $50k out of my very small retirement fund, borrow $10k from my parents, and rely on a small sum from my sister's estate to be able to pay the $40,000 in tuition, pay my mortgage and bills, and feed and care for my daughter and 3 pets. 

This year, I applied for every possible scholarship from the school and received none, and took out a $20,000 federal loan. I'm trying to find employment, but my babysitter makes more hourly than most of the work-study positions I've found. I'm entertaining doing some writing and marketing work for my brother's law firm, and they've retained me to do about 3 weeks of work on a trial basis. It's a very different kind of writing - and speaking - than I'm used to, very corporate, so I'm not sure that I'll be able to get up to speed quickly enough to get re-upped once the trial basis is over. SO, financial concerns are at the forefront of my mind.

HOWEVER, I so far really love two of the directing classes I'm taking, led by professors who have directed shows ranging from Frasier to Murphy Brown to King of Queens, and who are confidently cool in their expertise, and really excited to pass on their knowledge while having a good time. I'm also in a 'writers' room' where we write three episodes of a series this semester and then produce them next semester, which seems guaranteed to be chaotic, stressful and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants but also pretty great. I found myself sitting in class and thinking, finally, this is what I'm here for.


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