Wk B2 Design Thinking: What does your future hold?

“Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing.” – Rick Riordan

What lies ahead in the future? To be honest, I have absolutely no clue. But there’s no harm in imagining it.

That is precisely what this week’s project for Art 110 entailed. We were to create three futures for ourselves, which is the exact opposite of anything I try to think about. The future makes me quite anxious, so trying to imagine what might happen, or even harder what I want to happen, turned out to be a challenge.

Yet even so, I’m never one to step down from a challenge, so here are my Top 3 Future Me’s….let’s see what happens…

Everyone sticks to their original major…right?

When I was deciding what major to choose when applying to CSULB, to be honest, my first choice wasn’t film. I didn’t actually know what it was I wanted to do, all I knew was that I wanted to create a story that resonated with people. It did not matter what form that narrative took. So, I chose narrative production for film and electronic arts. Here’s how my life as a narrative production major, and more specifically a editor/screenwriter might play out:

5 year plan for Life as A Screenwriter/Editor:

Finish general education courses for pre-narrative production, obtain internships in editing/production for television and movies, continue volunteering for 22 West Media, and get several jobs on the side to pay for a house/apartment near CSULB.
Apply and get into the Narrative Production Graduate program at end of the semester at CSULB, continue volunteering for 22 West Media and perhaps start an internship with them, get a dog (preferably a large dog, I really like large dogs, fun fact), continue seeking outside internships at companies that will allow me to sit in and edit for them, study abroad in Ireland.
Start working on my own short films on the side, apply for editing jobs while still pursuing internships (preferably internships at larger companies in Los Angeles), search for an apartment closer to the middle point between Long Beach and Los Angeles, travel with my parents over the summer.
Graduate with a degree in Narrative Production specializing in screenwriting and editing, get a job in Los Angeles editing for a company, if I can specifically look for a job/internship with Geek and Sundry Company or Critical Role, look for an apartment in Los Angeles or just outside of L.A (one that accepts pets), publish shorts films, work on writing more scripts.
Have a stable job editing for Television or Film for a large company, have an apartment with a roommate or two, still have a dog, look into starting a relationship, head home to visit any chance I get
Resources 0-100: 75% I Like It hot to cold: 90% Hot Confidence Empty to Full: 67% Full Coherence 0-100: 84%
Questions this plan addresses: q1. Will I be able to visit my family when I have a job? q2. Will I have enough money to live off of one job alone? q3. Will I get bored of editing other people’s videos all the time?

To me, this would be the ultimately ideal scenario, but even I know that there is no way it will all go so smoothly. It is quite hard to find a job you like off the bat anywhere, but especially in L.A. Though this is my current ultimate scenario, life will do what it sees fit, and that’s why I have to take those alternative paths into consideration. That’s why we will soon be faced with option 2…

2. Film is done for. Now What?

So, let’s take that entire previous five year plan based off of film, and throw it away. Time to think from the perspective of a world without film. What would I do? Well, besides a strong desire to create something that people relate to and feel something from, I have always felt a pull to help people in the medical sense through one format in particular; psychology. See, psychology has always fascinated me, and in particular I have always been interested in study the science behind and the current treatment of mental disorders and brain anomalies. If I could not pursue my love of art, I would put my time into helping others in either an everyday hospital or if I had the opportunity I would choose to work in a Psychiatric Ward. Now, how might a plan so drastically from my current one play out?

Start pre-nursing program and complete pre-nursing general education classes at CSULB, look into volunteer/internship opportunities at local hospitals, look into finding an apartment/house to share with friends, start considering to double major or minor in psychology.
Enter CSULB’s official nursing program, get internships at local hospitals, get multiple part time jobs to support myself, get a tattoo, and visit home when I can.
Complete undergraduate nursing program at CSULB, obtain minor in psychology, transfer to UC Davis to obtain Graduate degree in nursing, get a lower division job at a local hospital, maybe in Marshall Hospital, try to attain RN status, get an apartment in Placerville, get a dog, and see family very often.
Graduate UC Davis with a master’s degree in nursing, transfer job locations to a psychiatric hospital once again starting at a low position, take up a job on the side to maintain a stable living condition if necessary, bring dog with me, travel to Europe over the summer, start a relationship.
Have a stable, good income, still have a relationship, work up the ranks to a high position in nursing at Psychiatric Hospital, buy a house a good distance away from work, get another dog so I could have two, take up art as a hobby again, visit family as often as I can.
Resources 0-100: 82% I Like It cold to hot: 80% hot Confidence empty to full: 76% full Coherence 0-100: 78%
Questions that this plan addresses:

q1. Will I have the time and opportunity to see my family as often as I want?

q2. Will I have the ability to get a dog to relieve stress and feel less lonely?

q3. Will my anxiety be at an all-time high from working in such stressful conditions as a Psychiatric Hospital?

This alternative future is honestly not horrible. I would get to see my family far more often if I applied to the graduate program at UC Davis, I would know the area, and housing would not be as expensive as it is in L.A. Then again, I would not be able to get a dog for quite some time as I would have no way to take care of it and I feel as thought a dog would be my only form of support during my time in pre-nursing. I might also have higher levels of stress which would be quite detrimental to my health and I don’t know if I would ever be able to get over no knowing if I was truly good enough to be a head nurse. Still, I would have a good income and have the opportunity to travel a lot when I got older. Who knows, it could still happen right?

But is that truly what I want to happen? Honestly I don’t know. If I was financially stable is that what I would want to be doing with my time? Which leads into our final possible future of the day….

3. Now don’t laugh….

Now I’m sorry to say things are about to become very nerdy. But to be honest I’m not sorry because it makes me so happy! If I was financially stable and could pursue any career I saw fit, I would in a heartbeat become a voice actor. I have always loved animated cartoons and videogames, and I would give so much to be a part of them. Games with real story and narrative fulfill many aspects of what I want to do in life and it would mean the world to me to actually achieve such a goal (without financial limitations of course). Here’s how such a plan would come to action:

Start working on a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts at CSULB, join a talent agency, get multiple part-time jobs, attend many auditions, get an apartment, and take improv classes.
Move into upper-division theatre arts classes, keep auditioning and attempting to get gigs, intern on multiple sets to understand the different elements that help pull a set together, get a dog (this might be obvious by this point), keep multiple part-time jobs, visit home as often as I can, travel to New York to see a show on Broadway, and start drawing again as a hobby.
Complete undergraduate degree in Theatre Arts and start working on graduate degree in Theatre Arts, get an apartment closer to L.A, get a tattoo, keep getting gigs and developing a following, make a reel of my voice work, take vocal lessons, and as always, visit family.
Get a master’s degree in Theatre Arts, never stop auditioning for gigs, try some live-action work whether that be film or television, try out to be on Broadway, by a house in L.A, enter a relationship, travel to Europe, visit family, and when I one day get the chance, attend San Diego Comic Con.
Keep getting job opportunities and start continually voice acting for anime, cartoons, and videogames, make art whenever I can, move towards Hollywood, buy a house, keep visiting family, get married, and be happy.
Resources 0-100: 65% I like It cold to hot: 93% Confidence empty to full: 84% full Coherence 0-100: 75%
Questions this plan addresses:

q1. Can I handle the pressure of a lot of people judging my voice and how well I perform in a game/cartoon?

q2. Will I be okay with always having to audition for something new over and over again and never truly knowing if I’ve got it?

q3. Will I be able to go see my family or will I always be busy?

Another aspect of the project was to try and get an interview with someone in one of the fields I wished to pursue. Though it scared me, I sent out several emails to people I looked up to in the voice acting industry. Unfortunately at such short notice, and with them being highly busy people I was unable to get a response. Even so, I was able to find interviews online, where wonderful voice actors such as Liam O’Brien, Laura Bailey, and Matt Mercer answer questions about how to enter the industry, what it is like to constantly have to audition in front of people who do not care about you more so your voice, and what it means to give every performance as if it will be your last. They all had very wise words, and though I still am a little scared to even remotely thinking about entering the voice acting business, it definitely was nice to hear from someone who does it for a living what that kind of life truly entails. But despite my newfound knowledge, that type of future would definitely be years and years away. But you never know.

I also made a LinkedIn for the first time in my life. Albeit there is not much on it, but there is nothing more important than trying to connect to people and expand your ability to meet others and search for jobs. I even plugged in the careers listed in my possible futures! It will most certainly be of major use to me in the near future, and I am grateful for having the push to make one in Art 110. Let’s see where it takes me!

So as you can see, there are definitely multiple paths my life could take, and most of them in some way or another, are entirely terrifying. But that’s okay, nothing in life is set in stone and I could pursue all of these futures if I saw fit. In the end, all it comes down to is what makes me happy and what I could see myself doing for the foreseeable future. I can’t wait to see what that turns out to be.

So here’s my question for all of you, what are your possible futures? What do you want to happen? I’m so curious to find out how different someone’s life could be due to one single decision. I hope you all have a fantastic week, now go make some art!