So What? Is my Approach?

So What? Is my Approach?

Being a student is a great and mysterious thing. The thought process of a good student is, “what am I going to be when I grow up?” Well, being 28 years old, I am still waiting to grow up and realize my true wants and needs. When declaring a major, I weighed many things, but it came down to two; I want a degree in something I am passionate about, but I want a degree in something I can have a comfortable career in. After a few days of stress I decided to declare myself as a communication major with an emphasis in digital film. At the end of my fourth semester at Dixie State College I am still questioning my decision. Tonight my shutter has been released.

Tonight I had the special opportunity of attending my first film screening of what I hope to be countless. The film, The Approach, is a documentary about rock climbing and the lives that it generates.  Students here at Dixie produced it in the extremely short time frame of a semester.  

The film depicted two men and the lives they create for themselves. One is a doctor who works long hard days. He works so that he can play. The second man was a full time climber who only works seasonal jobs to make just enough to survive. While these were extremes, I felt like I could apply this to myself and my college decision.

The thought of having a career I don’t love has always been a fear of mine. This movie showed that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing to do, yet living what you love can make you a very happy man.  Working everyday, only to play on the weekends, seems to be the way life is lived in America now. I don’t want to fall victim to this social norm.  I want to live what I love.

I love images. I love how an image, moving or fixed, can make you feel something. I love film. Comm 2660 has reconfirmed this to me. I was apprehensive about taking film classes because I really didn’t know if I could live without life’s better things. I felt like I would always be held back from making a good living. Hogwash! I now see the light! A good living isn’t about glory and riches. A good life is about loving every single day. About being excited. Film does this for me; its pure irony that a student made film is what it took to show me this.