I’m a Big Kid
I began my college career with the crazy idea that I was going to be a journalist. My freshman year was spent locked away in my dorm room studying the history of journalism, the role of technology in journalism today, the basics of news reporting and editing, and the dreaded AP Style. My days were plagued with nonsensical grammar rules and an onslaught of depressing headlines that reached me at all hours of the day via paper, computer, and text message.
I spent my freshman year of college slowly losing my mind.
The only thing that kept me going during those dark days were the “old school” cartoons I streamed from Netflix, the ones I grew up watching as a kid. Doug, Hey Arnold, Rugrats…they helped me power through the sleepless nights spent trying to dig up my buried ledes and swapping out periods for commas in my text. It wasn’t until the end of my second semester that I realized that is what I wanted to do.
I wanted to make cartoons.
Unfortunately, I have no artistic skills to speak of. My visual arts prowess consists entirely of stick figures beady eyes and wide smiles and tilting houses, complete with the little squiggles of smoke wafting out the lopsided chimneys.
And so, gentle readers, I decided I wanted to do the next best thing. I wanted to write the cartoons. So, before the end of my second semester of journalistic studies, I changed my major and enrolled in the Film and Media Studies program at Arizona State University.
It was by far the best decision I have ever made. My last two years of college have been fantastic. I’ve learned a lot of valuable skills I can use in real life at a job that I actually want. I look forward to going to class and I actually enjoy writing most of my papers.
With my junior year almost over and my senior year fast approaching, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I want to do with my life. The cartoon idea still applies—I’m a big kid at heart; in fact, I think one of my professors actually said I had the maturity of a 12-year-old sometimes.
I took that as a compliment.
After hours of research and a handful of career interest questionnaires, I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to be a children’s content producer. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. It’s perfect for me.
I just don’t know how I’m going to break into that field. I’m starting with an application for a production internship at Pixar Animation Studios. It seems like a step in the right direction. I want to produce children’s content, they make children’s content and are in need of a production assistant. It’s a match made in heaven, don’t you think? Hopefully they see that, because I would love to have the opportunity to work there and see the production process firsthand.
It would be a dream come true. I mean, really, it’d be an actual dream come true. I am in love with everything Pixar.
My love affair with Pixar began in 1995, with the release of Toy Story. Before that, I’d been strictly a Disney Kid, pledging my undying love and devotion to The Lion King, 101 Dalmatians, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid (and those were only the most watched movies in my massive VHS collection). Once I saw Toy Story, however, things changed. Everything was so lifelike and, if we’re being entirely honest gentle readers, I’d often wondered if my toys came to life when no one could see.
Toy Story confirmed everything my five-year-old brain believed to be true. Toys did come to life when no one was around and they did incredibly awesome things.
After Toy Story came A Bug’s Life and I was ready to move from a love affair into a committed relationship, just in time for Toy Story 2.
I can’t think of a better way to start a career in children’s content production than an internship at Pixar.
I’d better go finish that application… too bad I can’t make this my cover letter, I think it sounds better than, “The intent of this letter is to…” Maybe I can rework this into something that sounds professional….
