As a little boy, while everyone else was playing with action figures and toy cars, I was plopped atop my napping father’s belly watching soap operas. Gazing into that television, moving up and down with my father’s snores, I was incredibly fascinated by the (what I thought was) amazing production value, the immaculate cast of characters, and most importantly, all of their twisty and dramatic stories.
You would think a child wouldn’t be able to remember all the characters’ names and track each of their stories, but I would provide my dad with precise, detailed synopses of everything he missed. You could say I was engrossed, always anticipating my father’s afternoon nap so I could climb aboard his stomach to see what happened next on General Hospital.
As I got older, my exposure to soap operas grew into an obsession with television, both old and new. Any free time I had was spent in front of the T.V., watching everything from Roseanne and The Good Wife to Friends, Orphan Black and Parks and Rec. Aside from T.V., I’ve never stopped absorbing all the fascinating stories I’ve been told, like my father’s adventures as a corrections officer or my aunt’s travels around the globe.
I discovered my other passion, writing, in the third grade when I wrote a short story in class that took me eight blue books to complete and feel satisfied with. Ever since, I’ve never stopped creating, developing, and writing stories of my own, both fictional and real.
I naively thought that my admission to University of the Arts in Philadelphia was all I needed to learn how to become a “real” writer, and I couldn’t have been more excited. After my first two years there, my inspiration and motivation markedly decreased. I felt incomplete inside, like I wasn’t completely fulfilled or satisfied with what I was doing/creating. Everything I had previously enjoyed about UArts, particularly the strict private art-school curriculum and competitive, exclusive environment, suddenly became too overwhelming.
It felt as though I was only learning the mechanics of writing. My education lacked meaning, and I was afraid I didn’t know enough about the world, the people in it, and our histories to have anything to actually write about.
I left UArts and transferred to the Community College of Philadelphia, essentially restarting my undergraduate education. I majored in communication studies so I could still receive the engagement and interaction aspect of education I received at UArts, yet have the opportunity to explore a broader range of knowledge that can/will influence my writing. I would also be exposed to a larger, more diverse college community, which is highly beneficial to my overall development as a student and person.
I’ve worked diligently to continue my educational and professional goals, as hard as it may have been. As I ready myself to go to Emerson College in the fall, I’m excited for the opportunities that a new city and campus, filled with fresh faces, stories, and creativity, has to offer.
When I was applying to colleges in 2010, one school asked for a response to “What inspires you?” I remember writing a passionate editorial about New York City, with all of its life and lights and bustle and dreams; and while that may have been true then, I now have a more thoughtful response: People inspire me. Their experiences and their stories inspire me.
We all, real or fictional, have stories that need to be told, and I live to be that storyteller. I want to be the presenter, the translator, the voice. My dream is to become a distinguished writer in television and literature. I strive to become published, become part of a television writing staff, and ultimately become showrunner for my television shows. Using different mediums to bring my creativity to life, I hope to challenge, inspire, and entertain audiences, while entertaining, inspiring and challenging myself.
