30 Before 30 - Day 2: Enlisting

What better way to continue than to reflect on the day that changed my 20's (and my life) forever.

The day I enlisted in the U.S. Army. The left - the day I came back for Christmas after three weeks of initial training only to return two weeks later.

When I was in high school there was something fascinating to me about the military - but I didn't want to be in it. Ever. In fact, I said I would escape to Canada before I ever joined. This was in 2005. Fast forward to 2010. I hadn't found work in Los Angeles, went back to Chicago for a final semester to complete my degree, couldn't find work there, and moved back to Kansas at the end of 2009 where I then continued working part time at a minimum wage job at a movie theater, living back in my old room in my parent's basement in my mid-twenties.

Even though I had an absurd amount of student debt (thanks student loans!) I first thought I should apply to a graduate program in my hometown. In the midst of this process (which was ridiculous and I wasted time taking the GRE) I was approached by a friend who was planning on joining the U.S. Army. Well, it was more like I approached him. One day Paul McPheeters was talking about the ASVAB (the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), the initial standardized test the military uses to gauge different areas of competency for jobs. Having no idea what this was and being curious, I started asking questions. After a small chunk of time he said to me, "You seem to be pretty interested in this. Maybe you should come into the recruiting office with me."

So living in the basement of my parent's home with a part time minimum wage job, I agreed without a second thought.

Within the week I was walking into the decision that would change everything. I sat down and they had me take the practice ASVAB. With that underway, I decided I should pursue this further and they scheduled me to take the real ASVAB. I hated it just like all standardized style tests but I was excited about future possibilities and this was an open door. And one that I really didn't fully understand.

Initially, having a college degree, I attempted to go in as an officer. It went better than I thought at the first board but I had never been more nervous in my life. They still saw something in me they felt was leadership material and sent the papers up. The problem was at this time they had set up a second board, one that only gauged off of paperwork. This was the real problem. And that is where it didn't go through. 

I was stuck in Kansas and I knew I didn't want to stay. I was meant for bigger things. I could wait six months and try again or I could enlist. I was stubborn and impatient. So I enlisted, thankfully as a higher rank still (E-4/Specialist) thanks to my college degree and went went in the direction of military intelligence (35S-Signals Collector/Analyst) and signed an 8 year contract (3 1/2 years active duty) and garnered a Top Secret Security Clearance (yes I can keep secrets well). But I did have to give up the possibility of any other citizenship. The U.S. doesn't want other countries having their secrets used against them, after all. Nothing would ever be the same.

Five months later (November 2010) I would ship out to basic training. That was the worst and most important experience of my life so far. And then I would hate my life for three years in a solitary confinement cell with no window (the barracks) for three years in Hawaii. But on the bright side, at least I got to see things like this cool little fantastical creature.

I still found a way to have adventures!

30 Before 30 - Day 1: LAFSC

To all you wonderful readers,

I hope you can get something out of these ramblings... as I hope that I can as well.

I wish I could say I came up with this idea myself but truth be told, I borrowed it. The idea is I'll be attempting to write everyday for the next 30 days leading up to the day I turn 30 (which should be the day of the final post), my aim being to recount my 20's as I head into the next decade. I took this idea from Chris Krebsbach, who I met back in 2009 while doing a semester at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center. She recently did a 40 before 40 listing of blog posts and that is what gave me the idea. If you want, check out her blog at the link below, and in honor of where the inspiration came from, my first post shall be about LAFSC.

https://chriskrebsbach.wordpress.com/category/40-before-40/

2009 was the year I graduated... a semester longer than it should have taken. Sometimes you just have to learn those lessons. Had I not failed some of those science classes (you might want to know science and math were never my forte) I would have graduated immediately following my semester in Los Angeles. But in January 2009, I ended up in my ultimate destination for what I felt was going to be the time in my life I would make it big. I was 22, naive, and a bit more lacking in life experience than I ever could have realized. I should probably also add that I was quite lacking on the side of confidence.


But the Los Angeles Film Studies Center and my short 6 months in Los Angeles would quickly change all of that. Between my internship at Mandate Pictures, 2 of my own short film projects, another project I fell from producer to production assistant on, and continually crushing on girls (oh, college), I certainly starting seeing life (and the film industry) in a different light. Let's start with the bad shall we?

 One of the projects I was required to be on I ended up as a producer. Having been given an option to write down our top choices for roles I thought, "Hey, lots of directors produce! I should get the experience!" But as soon as I was thrown on the project... it down spiraled fast. First, I still believe on a small short film project, it's difficult to find enough jobs for 3 producers. I felt the limit should be 2. This still gives me no excuse for my shortcomings. In the process of all this, my focus drifted to my own two short films for the semester and when the time came to be on set for this short film, what did I do? I sat on set reading "Watchmen." You read that correctly. I failed miserably, hardly did anything to help as a producer, and read on set instead of assisting in any possible way I could. I learned that lesson quick when I was demoted to production assistant.

Here's the short story on that one. I failed. And then I learned how to produce, or at least somewhat.

So, now for the good times. Mandate Pictures ("Juno"), where I interned, was a trove of behind the scenes information inside a production company. On the last week the executives and assistants even had a special meeting with the interns where they could ask them any questions. Not only did I see inside the process from development all the way to post, I got a wealth of opportunities to read current scripts circulating through the system! At the same time, the internship was going nowhere and I didn't try very hard and therefore I don't think I was terribly "successful" in that venture either.

Through that semester came two short films, one of which was very confusing story wise because of my lack of experience and short amount of time. The second, which I am very proud of, is called "Beyond The Mirror." (https://vimeo.com/113059154) This little short started what I use as my current "production company" (it's not currently registered...) called Whimsical Pictures on all my projects now. In this time I found what encapsulates the way I think and the kind of stories I generally love to tell. Every project since has been listed under Whimsical Pictures, including on IMDB.

And crushing on girls. Well, that was college. Hmmm... I guess that's actually just guys, except my mentality has changed over time. I'm not overly self conscious like I used to be or extremely nervous around women that I like. Yeah, that was college. I had A LOT of growing to do. And over time I did just that. Somewhere along the way I found my confidence (mostly).

I think that was in the past year.

But Los Angeles helped to start understanding what it means to be a real filmmaker who wants to work in the interesting. And I failed... a lot. After that, do you know what I did? I got back up again because that's what you have to do to be successful. Never give up. And that's what I've done. Not even the Army stopped me.

But that's for a later post.