SEASON 1 – EpiBLOG 7: (PART B)

NOPE… I did not get the job that I really wanted, which was an Articulation Officer/Associate Professor position at a community college right outside San Diego proper. I also was turned down for 2 other full time positions at an art school, so that was fun. Apparently, my credentials, teaching experience, teaching award, and real-world experience in the film industry wasn’t enough to satisfy their requirements. I remember being so incredibly disappointed. My beautiful fiancé got a job offer – albeit, after months of searching. However, she was prepared to come to San Diego with solid employment. I didn’t feel prepared.

I literally had to START OVER… completely. I’m one of those people who enjoys practicality with solid plans in place, but at the same time, steps out on belief, or faith, or whatever you need to call that substance that causes you to move forward when presented with the impossible. I was wondering why my method of achieving my goals didn’t work this time around.

Starting over required me to look from within. Annoying. Sometimes you just want what you want right now without having to do the metaphysical crap. Anyway, looking from within actually helped a lot. It usually does. Okay… it always does. It just pains me to write it because it’s oftentimes so annoying and time consuming to do.

Other than the awesome support of my fiancé, son, parents, brother, and friends, while looking from within, I remembered something else wonderful about my situation. That I’m working for one of the greatest universities in the country teaching online. I was always going to continue teaching at this school part time while working full time at another college because of my commitment to them AND because it gave me the ability to teach students Screenwriting, which is the subject that sparked my interest in college level teaching in the first place. I was able to hold on to my dream of teaching at the college level. But I had to put in my resignation at the 2 other colleges that I was teaching at in Arizona in order to relocate to San Diego. Tough decisions, as I love being IN the classroom. However, teaching online gave me the flexibility to move without sacrificing my career.

Honestly, NOT getting any of those 3 full time positions in San Diego, as well as SEVERAL others that I applied for, were the best “disappointments” that have happened to me in the past few months. Because of those rejections, I’m now working towards my PhD. I would have never considered this as an option otherwise. Because of those annoying temporary set-backs, I decided that I can teach no matter what. Not ONE person nor a list of university job requirements are going to stop me from teaching. This is exactly why this blog was created, why I started my video series for Screenwriting, the reason why I’m in the process of creating my Public Speaking course, and why I’m so proud and grateful to continue to teach Screenwriting online. I can teach because I choose to. Just like a few years ago – I was able to create a feature-length film because I chose to. I don’t have to wait on a university to say I’m qualified for a profession in which I have a proven track record of success as an educator. The right school will find me, just as I will find it. And I didn’t have to wait on Hollywood to say my script was good enough. I wrote the story that I wanted to tell, and it touched the lives of all those who it needed to.

Everything that I do in life is about sharing my failures and successes with others in the hopes that they will learn something from my experiences. I love to see the success in others, especially when those successes are with my current or former students who have all worked hard and paid the price for their achievements.

Starting over didn’t mean erasing everything that I’ve done up to this point in life as if it never existed, even though that’s exactly what it felt like initially. It really meant taking the experiences, skills, and talents that I have, and making something wonderful and new with those gifts right now.

As I always tell my students, I’m a filmmaker and a professor – a professor and a filmmaker. Neither is more important than the other, as they both fuel the energy for the other to exist. I can’t be a good “teacher” if I’m not experiencing failure, working through it, and then not being able to share the success of overcoming those challenges with my students. Likewise, I’m not a good filmmaker [by my own standards] if I’m not moving people emotionally or possibly inspiring new paradigm shifts through storytelling. I teach because I love teaching. I write movie scripts because I love writing.

Today’s LESSON is to seek and/or acknowledge the skills and talents that you have, and figure out a way to share it with the world, while simultaneously being able to make a living.

FUN ASSIGNMENT: Write down your talents, skills, and abilities. How can you use what you have to help others and be able to make a living?

Recommendation: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

 

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