Monday, December 5, 2011

A REALity Story...

I want to serenade you all with a bed time story. This story is about a young ambitious little boy who at 12 steps on the stage of his fist TV set. He got the lucky opportunity to star in a few episodes of an after school special where he felt like a famous movie star and becomes star struck by the lights and cameras. He thinks to himself "people do this as a job?" and immediately sets his young mind on a career in TV. This young boy soon becomes a High School teen and seems destined for stardom, he is the lead news anchor on his High School Morning show and becomes a mini celebrity in his own right. From teachers to students alike, even people in the neighborhood recognize his face.

After graduation, he then moves on to college where in his sophomore year he becomes Vice President of his University Campus television station, the youngest in school history. Next he changes the entire programing format and shatters the old standing philanthropy record when the stations Telethon raises over $2000 for a non for profit organization. Life is good, things are good, it seems as if he is well on his way, and working hard to hone his skills and perfect his craft. While others are out partying like most college kids do, he is in the studio, and the library, un phased by the crazy parties he may be missing out on.

Junior year brings the most to be put on this young mans plate, he is now running the network and all its shows, interning at a major network television station and working part time at a small local station as a camera man covering High School sports. The dream is in full swing... Once senior year approaches he has finally made it, at 20 he is no longer just an intern but a crew member at that major television station, no longer a camera man but now a full time Reporter at the other, all before he has even graduated. He is determined as ever to continue to see that his stock rises. He now has even taken on a yet another job, modeling. His picture is on countless magazines and billboards, hes been in a couple commercials and even strutted down the cat walk in fashion shows. "Is this real?" he asks, pinching  himself every time he steps foot onto set or in the studio...the dream of a small town 12 year old boy who was always considered shy  is now living all that he had ever wished.

Though these successes seem all  like a dream, just like a dream they can come and go in the blink of an eye. The rescession hits and his crew position vanishes, turned into an unpaid internship, the reporter job gone, all after a hostile station takeover,  the glamorous photo shoots and catwalks disappear... An "almost was, but never has, been" This is how this young boy now young man feels. Broke, distraught, confused and down, this young man becomes depressed, the life he strives for and career he worked so hard for now squandered before he could even fully enjoy it. Was it his fault? what did he do wrong he wonders... all these questions with no answers. What should he do???

Then one day vicariously searching through job postings on the internet he comes across an opening... "Reality TV crew needed" is the title. He wonders, "reality" could this be the re start he'd been looking for? Before another moments thought he emails his resume and by that afternoon gets a call for an interview. Needless to say he gets the job and is back on track... or so he thinks...

The next 3 years he spends working on numerous reality show sets, some good, some bad, and some just god awful. 12 hour days, low pay, zero respect are now the norm for someone who had such promise and belief he could make it. But he keeps fighting, he keeps the fire inside him burning, hoping for his next shot and the beginning of the next chapter in his life. At 25 he decides to give school another shot and peruses his Masters Degree and gives reality a break. Invigorated by his studies he feels that the future is once again bright and better things are on the horizon.

Poised by his experiences both good and bad, he continues on his struggle and battle to make it where he once was headed. Even though he has his doubters, and has even doubted himself at times, he knows that no matter what, he can achieve great things if he strives for them and believes in himself. An unfinished story... an unfinished journey...  an excited young man with an exciting young future... to be continued.

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