I attended the University of Houston and majored in Communications – Media Production, with a minor in Film Studies. I would love to tell you that I am living in Los Angeles and cohort with celebrities in Hollywood. Alas, I am not. I reside in Texas, am a single mother of 1 and work in the nonprofit arena. I haven’t touched a video camera, an editing machine or read a script in 2 years, and I am truly feeling the itch to do just those things.
Without giving away my life story I’ll briefly explain how I ended up NOT using my degree. After college I was offered an internship at Dreamworks in Los Angeles. I worked alongside Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Pete Chiarelli. I was an office assistant, intern, executive assistant and worked long hours. I learned so much while I was there, walked the Universal Studios lot on my lunch break, and had Steven Spielberg’s AOL screen name on my buddy list. It was a dream internship. Since I worked every single day instead of the normal 2-3 days a week, I quickly completed all my internship requirements. With no money, and no paying job in sight I was forced to make the decision to go home. So I packed up my studio apartment, got into my Honda Civic and drove across country. Since I left earlier than I should I always felt like I left on kind of bad terms. I still keep in touch with Roberto Orci. He is from Texas and I felt an immediate kinship with him. Hopefully we can continue to stay in touch.
When I returned I surprisingly found a job with a TV show that was being filmed in Houston at the local FOX station. Cristina’s Court was a Judge Judy style court show, in its first season. I can honestly say this was the most exciting and beneficial job I have ever had. I was using my degree! In my hometown! I met people locally who shared the same joys that I did, we worked production, scheduled guests, pitched shows and I worked my way to up to Associate Producer within a month.
Then I found out I was pregnant, and that the show only tapes for 5-6 months out of the year. There was obvious excitement for the baby, bummer for the unwanted vacation time. I worked one more season at Cristina’s Court (which I received an Emmy recognition for) and decided to hang up my Producer hat and get a full time “real” job. I answered an ad for a video editor and quickly responded. This turned into a Director of Operations position that I was at for about a year and a half. I learned a lot about web content, design elements, technology and how to manage a staff.
Well their funding ran out and so I was forced to find another position. I found my current job through the United Way and have been there since September 2009. So my resume is a bit choppy. Never fired, never left because I wasn’t loyal or appreciated the job, circumstances just kept throwing blows my way. But like I have always said, everything happens for a reason. I am a mother now and cannot entertain the thought to run off to California and hook up with my Cristina’s Court contacts and pursue my career in Hollywood. My child’s family is here, I cannot pull him away from them or vice versa.
So here I am. Not using my degree. This is how life throws you curveballs and you make lemonade…or something.Then I realized that the reason why I got involved in Media Production is because I wanted to tell stories. I wanted to create visual art that would initiate emotions in people. Then I remembered all the scripts I read while at Dreamworks. All I have to do is become a writer, or teach video production and I can do that from anywhere.. Ideally I would love to be using my degree in the field but for right now I need to put my creative juices into something else. Houston is not the place to be to work in media production unless you work in TV or radio. And all of those jobs either work you to death or are not stable. I need something flexible because of my son while at the same time guaranteed to still be there the next day.
So I guess I did tell mini-life story but it was necessary to explain why I am not using my degree. And it’s OK to not use your degree! What my college degree did for me is lay the foundation for me to accomplish anything. I can always go back to school and change things up even more, we shall see then I’ll let you know what THAT degree did for me.
Maybe I should have used this as my bio instead of for this article!
