How I Chose Photography

Where do you see yourself in five years? How about ten years? We all come to a point in our life where we must decide what we want to do with the rest of our lives. No, I’m not talking about who we are but where do we see ourselves in the future.

I found myself in that position four long years ago. It was the beginning of my grade 12 year. My senior and final year of public school. In ten months, I would be graduating and sent off into the world. However, when it was time to start applying to colleges/university, I honestly had no clue what I wanted to do. I knew I didn't want to take a year off in fear of never going to college.

I remember going to a school fair and there was one college that was very appealing to me because it showed so much creativity. From there I knew I wanted to just dive in with both feet and go for it. Of course there was a few other appealing universities but I didn’t meet the qualifications that they required. The college that caught my eye had a extremely creative vibe. It’s like I was drawn to it. Before leaving I signed up for their free informational packet for those interested in seeing what all they have to offer.

After a few days, I received the packet in the mail. Included was a booklet laying out everything you needed to know or required for each of the five courses they offered. I was immediately drawn and mesmerized by their photography and media arts program. One of my favorite hobbies growing up was picture taking. Everywhere Dad and I went, I brought along his camera and took as many pictures as I could before the card ran out of memory space.

Upon telling my dad that I wished to pursue photography he bought me a DSLR camera along with an extra lens. I needed a new camera because one of the requirements for the course would have been a DSLR camera and it needed to be able to switch lenses and my camera at the time could not.

Online, it was a really easy process to apply and I even had to submit a ten photo portfolio and a paper telling them about myself. A few days after applying, the dean of the school wanted me in for an interview. It went really well and I was feeling confident. He gave me a huge book on the college and past work the students had created. I was told to give it a few weeks to receive an official decision.

Sure enough, after about a couple of months went by, I received a thick envelope in the mail. I knew right there and then I got in but now new problems arose. How or where was I going to get the funding to go to school. I needed to come up with at least 20,000 dollars to get through the course. I knew a sensible thing would be to explore my options.

First, I went to my bank to see what they could offer. Unfortunately, they could only offer half of the funding I needed. Next I looked into the last thing I swore I'd never do. A government authorized student loan. After a long hour of filling out the forms and waiting months to find out if I had got the loan or not, I was relieved to see I had gotten all the funding I needed. As I had already been in school a few days before I knew, you could imaging the instant relief that vanished from me.

Throughout the course and to this day I am still unsure whether or not I wish to make a full blown career out of photography. I do not consider taking the course and being in debt with a loan a waste of time nor do I regret it.

The course helped me learn to use my camera better as well as improve my photo taking skills. Even if I haven't decided to make it a career or not, I will always carry the knowledge with me.