My going back to college as a parent turned out differently.
I was trying to get accepted into a film making program, but at my age (at the time I was almost 50) I wasn’t the demographic they were looking for, so my counselor suggested a different degree, and then transfer in. So I chose Organizational Leadership. I was doing well, found that working f/t and going to school (in person) at night (p/t) wasn’t as difficult as I imagined. I also found that adult learning was much “easier” than when I was a teen/young adult.
Then I discovered I needed almost a years worth of electives. The choices at my school were abysmal, and expensive. My counselor suggested I could take my electives at the local community college and transfer the units. Bingo! I loved those classes, and found out that a community college about 20 miles away (as opposed to the one 5 miles from home) offered film making classes and that students in the first level would be required to make 6 films (1 to 6 minutes long) in 6 months, and that their equipment was par none, for a community college. So I signed up - after my 4th short film, and 2 editing classes, I was approached by another adult student, who had written a script, and wanted to produce a 30 minute film; would I be interested in co-producing, and more? I reluctantly read the script, which was about 30 pages long, had a budget of over $30k, and I knew he was in over his head. It was tri-lingual (Hebrew, Arabic (Palestinian dialect) and English. He did not speak the 2 foreign languages. It included extremely detailed set building (as it was to be set in Israel). There was a scene that called for CBS shot footage, a scene that called for filming from a helicopter, and more. So much more!
I queried him on how he planned to make this film, and he detailed his plan. I told him no, I wasn’t interested.
The chair of the film department contacted me, and said that he’d sent that guy to talk to me, because he felt I was the most ready to take on the challenge. He (and my love) somehow convinced me to give up a year of my life, to work on the film. We spent 4 months auditioning, building sets from scratch on a decommissioned military base, “hiring” crew, and another year filming. Over 125 individuals worked on the film in front and behind the camera, all volunteers. Somehow, the lead musician (a Syrian man) that worked with Sting on “Desert Rose” and received a Grammy, heard about the film, and offered to write and record the score - we became “famous” in the nationwide Middle Eastern community for being “the ones making a movie about peace in the Middle East” - One year to the day that we began shooting, our film premiered at The Newport Beach Film Festival…in 2 separate categories (which had never happened before), as a student film, and as a short-form narrative. The film traveled the world for almost 2 full years, and hit many festivals, was showcased on an LA newscast, radio interviews, and private events (synagogues, mosques, libraries!). I won a Peace in Film award in Hollywood. The only thing it didn’t do was get the backing to turn it into a full length feature. Which was the writer’s goal.
The film is a non-biased look at the never-ending conflict between Israel and Palestine, with women being the glue of what potentially could make a difference in the constant conflict. We showed 2 families, one Israeli one Palestinian, the real human toll, showing that what was happening to one family was also happening to the other - that we are all the same, that no one is a winner in war.
I quit the Organizational Leadership program, and went on to make a few more short films, a few Doritos commercials (for Crash the Superbowl), and eventually moved on to other things.
I think the point of my post is to let you know, the most important thing is to go to school for you. Don’t try to fulfill someone else’s dream for you. Fulfill your dream. And recognize when/if that dream changes, or if other opportunities arise. I never did finish my degree. And I’m good with that.
