Colleges Can’t Compete With “Real” Film.
Even though I didn’t want to do it, because I really want Shane to stay on this side of the country for college, I took Shane to visit film schools in California.
On our agenda: 10 colleges and two amusement parks in 4.5 days. And I really believed we’d see them all!
We had two tours scheduled on our first day, and we went to both. It was astounding how similar college tours sound, once you’ve been on a few of them. They all have the most spirited students as tour guides, and sometimes they use the same statistics as marketing points.
In southern California, a key marketing point: Because of the close proximity to both mountains and an ocean, you can go skiing and surfing in the same day.
Of course, Shane should be studying, not skiing and surfing – but it sure was enticing!
At Shane’s favorite college, too, he can watch fireworks from Disneyland every, single night.
After our good work on the first day, we took a day off to visit Universal Studios Hollywood. This was technically related because we went on the “studio tour” ride and drove through a real working studio – which was, ultimately, the coolest thing in the world.
After Universal, we were going to visit two schools in Pasadena, but Shane decided against them. One had a (truly) very dull way to teach film, and the other was 100% commuters. So we skipped those.
We toured three colleges the next day – two huge schools and one smaller – but our favorite stop was the Brady Bunch house, which is in a residential neighborhood. Colleges can’t compete with “real” film.
Then, Shane got sick – literally. He had a fever, so we revamped our plans and canceled one amusement park and two more college visits. He must not have been meant to go to those colleges.
By Monday morning, the day we were leaving, we were down to one more tour and a trip to the airport. The tour was nice – gorgeous views, gorgeous weather, blah blah blah – and Shane put that college on his “maybe” list, along with one other “maybe” and one “yes-I’m-applying” college.
And then we hung out by the Pacific Ocean for lunch, really seeing the west coast for the first time. It was spectacular.
We may not have accomplished as much as we set out to accomplish, but we did put some realism into Shane’s vision of California.
And mine – since I’d never seen Los Angeles, either.
It’s very nice. The weather alone is enough reason to go there – if you like 70 and sunny every day.
And it was great to see the colleges in person, and get an idea of what west coast campuses look like – what they feel like, really. Fortunately, they feel a lot like east coast campuses.
Shane’s most telling comment happened after our first tour, at his favorite school. He said, ” I don’t know if it’s this college I like, or just California.”
And he had a point. It’s hard to pull the campus out of the bright, warm weather in January.
But I hope he can. I hope he distinguishes between his “passion” for film – which is not terribly evident – and his “passion” for being in a sunny, warm environment – and someplace new.
Because I really want him to stay on this side of the world.
My recourse: I’m planning the most adventurous college tour extravaganza ever. Spring break is coming!
He will see what this side of the world has to offer.
And if it doesn’t offer more than southern California? I can always move out west.