In a previous entry I detailed my swiftly decreasing enthusiasm for the M.S. track here at ISU. I expressed much of the same frustration in conversations with my mother and my friends. The answers that come back are very similar: you can do whatever you want. What do you want?

So, the options:

• Law school. Always been in the back of my mind, recently came to the forefront following a conversation with my father. After I finished ranting about the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, he asked me if I’d ever considered it. I said yes, but…
  Pros: Works well with my individualist/confrontational mentality. Potential for excellent earning. Considered a respectable, worthy profession by almost everyone (and those who don’t feel that way fear it.)
  Cons: Three years of schooling. Expensive. Tough and competitive as hell. Very detail-oriented. Not creative in the traditional sense. Difficult to translate to work outside the U.S.
• Film school. Another always-present option. This recently came to the forefront following a conversation with… my mother. I’ve always loved films and the all the technical details surrounding producing and marketing them.
  Pros: Also individualist. Very creative. Chance to impact many people with a moving narrative. (Small) potential for fame and very good money. Entertainment a huge and growing part of the economy and computers are invading Hollywood with a vengeance. Plus international potential.
  Cons: Cliché. Very difficult to break into. Graduating law school (plus the bar) makes you a lawyer. Graduating film school makes you another schmuck with a film degree. I lack connections.
• School of hard knocks. Get a regular job, start earning.
  Pros: ? (Money, maybe?)
  Cons: You pick ’em. Economy sucks. Work sucks. Where will I move? What will my lackluster GPA and limp résumé net me?
• School of hard knocks, London branch. Get a BUNAC blue card and bum around London for the next six months. Possibly with sister. Can be combined with above options, as most wouldn’t commence until Aug 03.
  Pros: London. Also, not in U.S.
  Cons: Only six months. Then back to real life. Putting off the inevitable?

I don’t know what the answer is. I want to do something creative, but I also want to do things that are important. I know that doesn’t make me any different than anyone else out there, but I just wish I felt more assured in making this decision. Oh, and the fact that I have a lease here for another 7 months isn’t helping one bit.

Update [23:00]: Originally, I enabled comments on this post, but people preferred to respond through other channels. The tally at this moment:

• One person thinks I’ve made up my mind and all the options but immediate work are just delaying the inevitable.
• Two people agreed with law school in principle, but didn’t flat-out advocate it.
• Two people flat-out advocated law school.
• One person agreed with film school in principle.
• One person can’t really see either option, except perhaps film as “a Michael Moore-style director.” Suggests “non-fiction author.”
• One person is “baffle[d]” that I am “soliciting the advice” of friends.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 18th, 2002 at 3:05 am and is filed under Miscellany.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.