San Fran, here I come!

I received some much anticipated good news today. I was accepted into the Masters program at Academy of Art University in San Francisco. In January, if all goes as planned, I will be starting on my MFA in Character Animation. Rick Boucher, a Graduate Admissions Adviser from AAU, called me today and told me the good news. He also gave me the results of my portfolio review. He said it went very well. Based on the portfolio and demo reel I submitted, I am waived from taking 5 classes that would be under my current skill level. Needless to say, I am super excited and I can't wait to start on a new journey.

A few people have asked why I feel the need to go for my masters degree since I already took Animation Mentor. There is actually many different factors that led me to make this decision. AM was definitely a wonderful experience for me and I wouldn't give that back for anything. If it wasn't for AM I wouldn't have gotten the job that I have right now. I learned a wealth of knowledge that I would never have learned on my own. While I was taking AM, it was a really rough time in my life. Because of my situation, I could not dedicate nearly as much time as I needed to in order to really excel. I was working full-time for most of the time that I was in AM and that alone was a big mistake. When I finally decided to quit my job to focus more on school, another slew of events happened that really hindered my education. My mom was going through a rough divorce, I had to move cross-country to Missouri and back again and my grandfather passed away. Aside from all of those events, I came to realize that an online education was not conducive to my personal learning style. I found it really difficult to focus and get my work done. Although, an online school can be very convenient, it was much too convenient for my own good. Being able to shift my school schedule around my personal and work schedule rather than the other way around, was not the best, especially for a chronic procrastinator like myself. I think the best way for me to learn is to be submersed in a learning environment and surrounded by other students and teachers. Going to class online was too distant and disconnected for me and left way too much room for me to slack off. Don't get me wrong, AM is a one of a kind school and many students I had the same classes with have had much success and are working at big studios. As much as I loved going to AM, it just wasn't the best way for me to learn.

That being said, another reason I want to get my masters is because right now I feel like my animation is at a plateau. I have been working for Double Helix Games now for about 8 months. I have seen a little bit of improvement in that time, but I am nowhere near the level where I would like to be. I have considered taking time off to work on personal stuff, but again, I really don't believe that would be as beneficial as going back to school. For me, I need to be pushed to get work done and with guidance, I believe I will see much more improvement in a shorter amount of time.

The last reason I can think of right now is I would really like to get out of Southern California and going to school in San Fran is the perfect opportunity. Living in Missouri really showed me how fast paced it is out here. Plus, the people here are unbelievable. You never really notice it until you leave for a while and come back. Most people here are so non-personable and selfish and always in a hurry to get somewhere [or nowhere]. I am definitely not looking forward to leaving behind my friends and family that live down here, but I really feel that a change in lifestyle and scenery are really going to do me good. One things for sure, when I move up there, I am selling my car. Goodbye commute, goodbye traffic!!!

Going back to school is going to set me back another 60 grand or so, but at this point, I don't really care if I will be paying back student loans for the rest of my life. All I really want is to have a job that I love. Working at Pixar is my dream and ultimately what I have been working for since I decided to get into animation. If I get a job working in the film industry, period, this all would be worth it, but working at Pixar would mean I could die a very, very, very happy man.