Life Moves Pretty Fast!

Three years ago I made the bold step and quit my job of seventeen years to pursue a career in the film and television industry, but to do this, my diploma which I gained twenty-three years ago, was no longer a suitable  qualification, therefore I had to look at returning to full-time education to get a degree, so I was eligible again to apply for jobs within the industry. 

To be honest it wasn't the hardest decision to make as I was at breaking point with my job, but my main concern was paying the bills that needed to be paid. After looking into the financial support I could receive for returning to full-time education as a mature student, I applied and got into all my university choices, and opted to go to Teesside University in Middlesbrough.

The course duration was three years, even though I was given the opportunity to attend for only two years thanks to my professional background. I opted to start from the beginning to refresh my skills, bringing me up to date the digital revolution. 

To say I was anxious to start full-time education was an understatement. I was a 38 year old, newly married man with two kids, about to mingle with people half my age, who were fresh out of college, and one of the thoughts that was going through my head was 'Am I going to fit in?' 

The answer was yes! From day one, my classmates overlooked the twenty year age gap, especially as I wasn't the only one in their 30's on that course, which relaxed me further. Everyone was friendly and we all began to build on some great friendships. 

Over the next three years, I began to improve on my skills, something my job or should I say my bosses held me back on. I got to work with industry standard equipment, had plenty of work experience and got to work as a freelancer on a few short films and other projects, which have boosted my resume, giving me a better shot at progressing my career within the film and television industry.

When I started University, I was still unsure on what career path to take, as I had been working as an actor, voice-over artist, editor and camera operator for the past twenty-years. I got to work along side some great people, who became good friends, and it was these friends who also gave me the kick up the arse, telling me to get my degree and pursue my career as I was wasted in my job. 

Thankfully, these friends knew what they were talking about, especially as they've now got thriving careers in both television and film industry as editors and as actors. After a nice lengthy talk with one of the lecturers, it finally became clear which role I should pursue as a career - editing. I had dabbled in editing over the past couple of years, some of my work had already been aired on television on 'Road Wars' which aired on Sky 1, and on local news segments. But when I put things into perspective, the two roles I enjoyed doing were acting and editing, mainly because of the challenges each role could offer, and those who know me, know I enjoy a bloody good challenge. 

So believing three years was a long time to get myself together and build my path as an editor, I'm now sat here writing this and thinking 'Where the hell as the past three years gone?'. I feel like I've not accomplished anything, but looking back at my filmography, I've done a hell of a lot, more so in the past three years than I've done over the past twenty years. However, as graduation looms, I am shitting bricks at the thought of not getting a job, especially as the financial support has come to an end, and over the past three years, I've found it very difficult to get a part-time job of some kind as most companies have been looking at younger employees instead of people my age, as they believe they are more management material. Which in a way is true, but in my eyes its more age discrimination, and it seems to me that experience means nothing these days.

In hindsight of my little rant, over the past three years University has not only introduced me to some great people and professionals within the industry, but to some good friends. 

I've re-established my friendship with James (left), who I've known since I was 18, and we'd lost touch when our lives took us on different paths. James contacted me on Facebook, saying he too was ditching his job and pursuing another career to which brought him back to full-time education at Teesside University, and over the past couple of months, we've had a bloody good catch up and even joined forces on the radio, where we got to present our show 'Wednesday Weekender', which sadly comes to an end next week. 

As for my other friends I've made over the past three years, all I can say is that you have been a great bunch of talented people, whom I am going to miss chatting with over a coffee, in the pub, on our lunch breaks or when we've been working on productions together. Its weird how quickly you can take things for granted, but you know after graduation, we'll probably never see each other together like this again, unless its at our twenty year reunion, to which I'll be sixty year old pensioner, and hopefully many of us will have got our dream jobs and be either too busy to meet up or living in another country.

My gran wasn't kidding when she told me that life passes you by the minute you leave school, and this was also reflected in one of my favourite films 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', when Matthew Broderick says "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it". Life does throw a lot of shit in your direction, nobody comes up smelling of roses, life is hard and before you know it twenty years has passed, never mind three. So on that note all I can say is, don't take anything for granted, live life to the max with few regrets, stay safe and good luck to everyone in their careers, whatever path you may choose to walk on. Its been an absolute pleasure knowing you all and I hope our paths will cross again sooner, rather than later. 

Good luck everyone!