Goin' Out To Cally – Part 37, U.S.C. Me When You Have More Money

Beyond my lunch with Pete Producer, another major reason for this trip to Cally was so I could visit the two famous film schools at the University of Southern California (USC) and their rival school at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

I’d wanted to be a filmmaker since I was nine years old and, while at the University of Florida, I wanted to minor in film. This was difficult for two critical reasons. One, the Fine Arts department did not allow minor degrees. Two, the University of Florida did not have a film school. So, if I was going to get an official film education then I had to look elsewhere and what better place to look than at the film schools responsible for turning out today’s giants.

USC was known for having help start the careers of many great filmmakers such as George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. My favorite director, Steven Spielberg, couldn’t get into USC so he earned his filmmaking chops at UCLA, so, with their track records I surmised that either place would be fine.

Sunday joined me on the day’s excursion and our first stop was USC. The campus was very impressive… so much so that I felt like I was suddenly in debt ten grand just by driving on their pavement.

We parked in the first open parking spot we could find and got out. The buildings were daunting, the grounds well groomed, the people well dressed. We asked passer-bys where the film school was and they looked at us like we were carrying some lower-class contagion.


We eventually followed the campus signs and entered the school of film’s impressive building. We went up to the second floor where a few faculty and students were mingling. For some reason, I again felt under dressed or under valued. I felt as if everyone had monetary psychic abilities and, upon seeing me, could immediately scan my bank account and determine I was someone with which it was not worth making eye contact.

I meekly approached the receptionist.

“Hi, I’m here from Florida and I was wondering if there was a tour of the film school that I could take?” I asked.

I knew from my experiences at Florida that, if someone drops by, they’ll ask a Teacher’s Aide or someone to give a quick tour. The USC receptionist looked up to me as if my question had thrust her over some irrecoverable threshold of annoyance.

“Do you have an appointment?” she jabbed.

“Ah, no… we drove all the way out here and I wasn’t sure which day we would arrive… so….” I stammered.

“Well, you need an appointment” she returned snootily.

“Can I make one?” I continued.

“For today?” she asked with disbelief.

“Yeah… if possible.” I said.

She chuckled slightly to herself and said “No, not today.”

It was at this point that my Give-A-Crap ratio immediately collapsed. This was how they talked with potential students? This is how they welcomed interest in their institution from someone who drove all the way from the other side of the country? This is how they treat people?

“Nevermind!” I said with a scoffing laugh and an obvious “people like you deserve your own special place in hell” attitude and walked out.

“What a bunch of jerks.” Sunday said as we headed back to the car.

“Yeah, screw ‘em!” I said, trying to heal my wounded insecurities.

It’s amazing how perception changes everything. On our walk back to the car the campus that filled me with awe just minutes earlier seemed plain and uninviting. Perhaps it was that I was seeing it for what it really was. Or perhaps I was layering my own frustrations onto the visible environment. Either way, my childhood urge to visit this school had officially been eliminated.

My frustrations at the morning’s events were only exacerbated by what awaited us in the parking lot…

A bright orange parking ticket stuffed under Tim’s driver’s side windshield wiper.

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Part 37, (Text, Audio)
Part 36, (Text, Audio) - Part 35, (Text, Audio) - Part 34, (Text, Audio)
Part 33, (Text, Audio) - Part 32, (Text, Audio) - Part 31, (Text, Audio)
Part 30, (Text, Audio) - Part 29, (Text, Audio) - Part 28, (Text, Audio)
Part 27, (Text, Audio) - Part 26, (Text, Audio) - Part 25, (Text, Audio)
Part 24, (Text, Audio) - Part 23, (Text, Audio) - Part 22, (Text, Audio)
Part 21, (Text, Audio) - Part 20, (Text, Audio) - Part 19, (Text, Audio)
Part 18, (Text, Audio) - Part 17, (Text, Audio) - Part 16, (Text, Audio)
Part 15, (Text, Audio) - Part 14, (Text, Audio) - Part 13, (Text, Audio)
Part 12 (Text, Audio) - Part 11 (Text, Audio) - Part 10 (Text, Audio)
Part 09, (Text, Audio) - Part 08, (Text, Audio) - Part 07 (Text, Audio)
Part 06 (Text, Audio) - Part 05 (Text, Audio) - Part 04 (Text, Audio)
Part 03 (Text, Audio) - Part 02 (Text, Audio) - Part 01 (Text, Audio)