My journey to the west, Chapter 2 (College Pt. 1)

I got into most of the private universities I applied to, regardless of my lack of commitment to the SAT II's. How I wanted to attend a high-brow institution with some high-brow people! I wanted that challenge again. However, I ended up making a rather surprising choice: San Jose State University. This choice was made with cold, hard logic. I came to SJSU to learn the practical arts of animation and illustration and to save on student loans. It made so much sense at the time.

But boy did it make me unhappy. All the years preceding this, I'd been told that I needed to go to a big-name school. I needed that validation of my classmates asking me "oh, and what did you get on your SATs?" And "what other schools did you consider?" I needed the reminder that I was trekking on the right path in life. The one that America had drilled into my head for those past four or five years: this is how you do LIFE.

No one ever asked me these questions at SJSU. These days, I don't even remember what scores I got on the SATs. I met so many amazing people. People who'd gotten their degrees in engineering, only to find out they hated it and to come back for their art degrees. People who'd had kids in a traditional family setting and decided to make a life for themselves doing what they wanted, after 20 years. People who'd transfered from community colleges. All kinds of people. Here they were, doing life, and doing it on their own terms and schedules.

It was a little cathartic realizing that the life dictated to me in high school wasn't the only one worth living. I considered writing a screenplay about this revelation, but ended up working on a different project. Eh, maybe next one?