Motivation

Alright, let's get this straight right off the bat: I love writing on here, this is what brings me the most joy currently, and I have no plans to stop now. That being said, I've learned a lot in the past few months about motivation.
I never believed people when they said "Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life." I grew up with a family that had the mentality of "Go to work, bring home a paycheck, and shut up." (old school Italian dad, God-fearing Christian mother) Every time I heard these motivational speakers, or anyone really, say "You have to do what you love in life, or you'll be miserable." Again, I just thought "Naaaaaaah, you can work past that. It doesn't matter if you're doing what you love, as long as you have money in your pocket, you're good."

I never realized how wrong I was until I started going to college for a Media Degree. I wanted to become a script writer, or a writer of any sorts. The college that I'm attending did not have a purely English/writing degree, but it did have a Digital Filmmaking/Video Production degree, of which I was going for a Bachelor's. This college only had selective writing courses, many of which were sub-par. The rest of the degree is focused on the technical aspects of all the equipment, plus the 'rules' of filmmaking.
Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot in the time that I've been here, but I have just felt my energy and motivation sapped from my body. I can't stand carrying around pieces of equipment that you are financially responsible for (makes sense), then setting up said equipment, filming something, disassembling the equipment, then hauling it back to the check out area.
That is not what I want to do in life. Others may enjoy that, as some of my friends who are in the same program do, but I do not. I would rather learn how to write a novel or a screen play then do that on a day to day basis. This place that I'm going has just been a huge disappointment for me since the very beginning.

Also, DO YOUR RESEARCH WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT A COLLEGE. Seriously, the statistics I've seen of the college that I'm currently attending (not naming any names) is absolutely atrocious. Lawsuits, transfers, dropouts, the whole shibang. Added to the fact that the student housing (seeing as how the college is in a bigger city) resembles a prison. I'm not joking when I say that I've heard at least ten people make that comparison. The place was converted from a parking structure to cheap student housing. Oh, sorry, cheap is far from it, seeing as how the prices to live here are ridiculous.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to get across is this: It is ok to make mistakes. I thought for the longest time that I wanted to go into filmmaking and make movies. I now know that I hate most everything about that process, minus the writing. If you go to a college that you find out that you don't like, transfer. If you were going for an extended period of time (like four years for a bachelor's), you will be miserable. Every bit of passion that you had when you started will slowly ebb away, and you'll be left with a degree that ate away at you as you were in the process of achieving it.
Yeah, that's about as clear as I can make it. Do what you love, and if you find out that that isn't what you wanted to do, it's ok. I now know that I want to focus solely on writing. I'm glad I know that now other than four years down the road, before I've wasted those years doing something that I can't stand.

I'm sorry, I normally don't complain this much on the internet. I just felt the urge to relay this hard lesson that I've been learning recently. Maybe this blog post will help someone from making the same mistake. Also, yes, I realize that there are bigger problems in the world, and yes, this may be seen as me just bitching, but this is a lesson that hopefully more people become aware of. I'd rather make some money and be happy than be making beaucoup bucks and be absolutely miserable.

With that, my little speech is over. Thanks for reading.

- The Cook