Friends and Family,
It has been quite a while since I have updated everyone on my filmmaking endeavors/life/etc. I have a lot to tell, but will aim for brevity wherever possible.
What I did in 2003: As most of you probably know, I spent last summer taking a filmmaking class at USC, and then spent last fall at a semester-long film program called the Los Angeles Film Studies Center. These two film school experiences taught me a lot, and so I decided to pursue graduate film school in cinematography for the fall of 2004. I wrote many essays, filled out many applications, and tracked down many letters of recommendation – all in hopes that I would be admitted to the filmmaking programs at either USC or UCLA.
What I have done since 2003: After spending five months in LA, I returned to Indiana to finish up my final semester of college at Taylor University. While many people say they have a hard time returning to their four-year college after spending a semester away, my experience was completely different, and I would say that my final semester at Taylor was probably the most memorable and fulfilling of any of them.
Why you ask? I think it was because while away from Taylor, I came to appreciate so many things about the school that I had taken for granted while I was there: the great friends and fellowship I had developed since my freshman year, the chapel worship band I played in, all the student activities I had the privilege of being involved in, even the nickname everyone called me at Taylor (Shabotz). I really came to miss a lot of these things while I was in LA, and so it made me appreciate them so much more when I came back.
Some of the highlights of my final semester: I finished out my fourth year of rooming with Matt Hoppe. I composed the musical score for a play (“Fools”). I directed a play (“Death of a Salesman”). I met weekly with a man from a nearby city living with AIDS. I composed my first symphony. I won the Audience Vote at Taylor’s annual film festival. I was even wished Happy Birthday by more people this past semester than in my previous 21 birthdays combined.
How’s that possible? Well, remember when you guys got that mass e-mail from my punk roommate in April? The one where he told you all to “plague” me with Birthday greetings? You guys definitely succeeded, and I loved it. I woke up the next morning with an over-filled e-mail inbox, a Birthday card on my door, sidewalk chalk signs written all over campus to wish me a Happy Birthday, a Power Point slide during chapel to do the same, and even half of the people in chapel singing the Birthday song to me after chapel was over. I felt very loved, and it meant a lot.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time either, for only a week earlier, I had found out that I would not be attending film school in 2004. I had been one of the top 10 finalists for the cinematography program at UCLA, but they ultimately only accepted 2 people and I had not made the final cut. Even though I knew in my head that it was a huge honor to have made it to the top 10, the rejection letter was still really hard to take, and I found myself questioning a lot of things for quite a while.
The main thing that gave me comfort during that time was the support from my friends and family, and the experience of living in community at Taylor. Most of you probably didn’t even know I hadn’t been accepted, but your birthday greetings, support, and friendship helped me through that time nonetheless. I learned in a whole new way the degree to which significance in life comes from being a part of a community, and I valued the lesson.
Closing thoughts: When I first found out that I would not be attending grad school the year after graduating from Taylor, I remember my parents telling me, “I know this is hard to take David, and I know that you don’t see God’s divine purpose in this right now. But I guarantee you that in a year or two, you will be able to look back on this, and see how God’s perfect plan was working even in your rejection letters. Other doors will open up, and it will all make sense.” I must admit that at the time they told me that, I agreed with them in part, and wanted to agree with them in full, but still really struggled with the fact that I would not be going where I had wanted to go this next year. Even though my last semester at Taylor was my best, those two weeks following my rejection letters were some of the hardest in my life.
But I’m here to tell you that not one or two years later, but in fact just a couple months later, I am beginning to see the divine purpose in those rejection letters. God has guided me away from cinematography and toward directing and video journalism, and doors are opening up for this next year that I would never have anticipated three months ago. I am honestly ecstatic when I think about them, but cannot reveal much more than that at this point. I should be able to give you further information about these exciting opportunities soon, but in the mean time I just wanted to assure you that I see the purpose in the rejection letters already, and am glad that I had the door closed on graduate school in cinematography for the time being.
By the way, I have spent the month and a half since graduation heading up several film productions for businesses and people in my home town of Bismarck, North Dakota, and will continue to do this for a few more months. I hope you enjoyed this brief synopsis of the past six months of my life, and I look forward to reporting back to you again in August. Peace out.
- Dave (for non-Taylor folks) / Shabotz (for Taylor folks)
P.S. My parents and I are leaving for China today to put on an English camp for Chinese English teachers. We will be helping them with their conversational English skills, and would appreciate your prayers that things go smoothly, and that we would be flexible when plans don’t work out the way we had hoped. I will be helping out at the camp, and will also be producing a documentary about it, so it should be a great experience. We will be gone from July 8-July 23, so if you write me during that time and I don’t write back, that’s why (don’t let that stop you from writing though).
