I love saying that. Somehow, writing it down makes this moment feel all the more real to me.
Looking at back at how this whole thing came about, I invariably feel compelled to clasp my hands together and sing praises under my breath while looking skyward. But all jokes aside, I can't help feeling that someone up there was working overtime on my behalf.
Three months ago, I sat down to meet with my in the film department to talk about the classes I wanted to take this coming fall. Sometime during the meeting, while discussing my course options, she asked me if I was planning on attending a film conference in Oklahoma City that was taking place that weekend. Now, this was a Thursday and I already had a scheduled date with my fuzzy comforter on that Saturday morning, but I got the information about the conference and told her I'd get back with her.
After thinking long and hard about the merits of sleep versus advancing my career, and after a productive phone call to my mother (which filled me with shame for having ever considered sleep to be a precious commodity), I decided at attend the film conference.
On Saturday morning, I woke up unneccessarily early and walked up campus to the Film and Video Studies department office where my ride, the head of the FVS department, was going to pick me up. Campus is so peaceful on a weekend morning. I was the only person on the entire South Oval.
But I digress.
The ride into Oklahoma City was very enlightening. Dr. Shary and I talked the entire way about films and American culture and American culture in films.
Once we got to the conference, I registered, put on my name tag, and grabbed some coffee. There was a short introduction and welcome in a little theater-type room, and then everyone split up to go different places according to their preference. A couple rooms featured people reading their papers about film, but I chose to stay in the theater-type room and watch short films. The directors of the each film got up and said a little something about the film. Then we watched it and had a short Q & A following.
After a short break, there was a second session and I again chose to watch short films. Then there was a break for lunch, and after lunch we watched "Rocket Science." It is about a boy with a stutter who joins the high school debate team, and the whole thing is fabulous. And then after the film screening, the director of the film, Jeffrey Blitz (also directed the Oscar nominated documentary, Spellbound), got up and said a few words before opening the floor to questions. That was my second favorite part of the day.
My favorite part of the day was during lunch break. This is how it happened.
I sat down for lunch (a delicious turkey sandwich) with Dr. Shary, the two other OU students who had come, and Dr. Horton (the senior professor in the FVS department). As the others were talking, Dr. Horton asked me what I wanted to do with my film major. I told him that I thought I wanted to make documentaries, but I wasn't sure yet.
Without missing a beat, he said, "Come by my office sometime this week, and I'll set you up with an internship in New York City with a company that makes documentaries."
I'm sure my jaw dropped, and somehow I stuttered out a Thank you, I'd love to.
And it happened just like that. Right there I made an appointment to meet with him on Wednesday (I just happened to have my planner with me), and on Wednesday at 10 am sharp, I walked into his office. He sat me down, explained the internship, gave me an essay to read from the girl who had completed the internship the year before, and told me that CNAM would be contacting me soon.
I got an email from CNAM (Center for New American Media) that very afternoon, and by 2 pm the next day I had an internship in New York City for the summer.
In the future, I will always go to every film conference possible. Period.
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