SCOTT KEEN'S BOOKS
  • Home
  • My Blog
  • Harvey Gorge's Journal
  • Video Editing Portfolio
  • Writing Portfolio
  • Press & News
  • Events
  • Contact
  • The Village of Kilhaven

From Law School to Homeschool

8/20/2015

3 Comments

 
Originally posted during my blog tour here.

When I was in 9th grade, one of my teachers told my mom that I would never be happy in a 9-to-5 job. As the years went on, I graduated college, decidedly ignored this “prophetic” statement, and applied for 9-to-5 jobs anyway. Eventually, I even went to law school under the belief that I wanted to be a lawyer. Unfortunately though, during the Orientation weekend (before classes even started), I knew it wasn't for me.

Being a lawyer is definitely not like any one of the three thousand lawyer TV shows. The professors said, if you don't like law school, you won't like being a lawyer.  And, I'm not judging everyone who's gone to law school, but many of my classmates were quite zealous for the law and classes, which made it somewhat difficult to hang around them. If you had to cancel plans with any of them, they would annoyingly start telling you how you supposedly broke a “verbal contract.” This, along with the extreme lack of creativity in lawyering, is simply one of the main reasons I knew this profession wasn’t for me.

I tried for a semester to make it work. I thought maybe it was just my attitude, so I worked on that. I even started dressing up (tie, dress pants, etc.) thinking that would help. It didn't improve anything. Then, I just dove headfirst into it! I read, researched, and studied. I went to the Law Library and worked for hours there. Next, I tried to sort of "rebel" against it, like if I dressed how I wanted to and bleached my hair, I would feel like I was still myself and then be okay with not liking my career choice. I talked to my professors, the deans, my friends. I prayed about it, debated, fretted, and anything else I could.

During this time I came across some reading material from the Communication school. They offered an MA and MFA in Script and Screenwriting. I never even knew those were options.  But when I saw the degree descriptions, suddenly my life made sense.

I thought back to my teenage self when I would write, not novels or stories, but thoughts, feelings, and music. Then, as an undergraduate I took a screenwriting class, and I remember feeling that I was just scratching the surface of something within me, something that wanted to break free. 
I didn’t make the decision to switch from Law School to Scriptwriting on a whim, even though it may have seemed like that to some people around me. It was actually more like a seed had been under the surface and suddenly it broke forth… a surprise to everyone who had no idea that the seed had been there.

Well, getting that MFA took some time, and during that season of my life, I got married and started having kids. My wife (having finished her degree before me) managed to land a full-time job first, which put me as the stay-at-home one. Fast-forward many years (and many rejected job applications on my end), and she’s still the one working and I’m still the one at home. Changing diapers, fixing hair, homeschooling, and oh yeah, trying to write a novel and get it published – my life is definitely not 9-to-5, and though it may be mundane, it’s rarely boring.

Were those words from my teacher “prophetic”? Maybe she was just a good teacher and made an astute observation.

But meanwhile, here I am, over 20 years later, not working a 9-to-5 job. I have to say, I'm okay with that.

 

3 Comments
Michael
8/20/2015 07:09:58 am

Your book was better!

Reply
Maggie Hockett (Noble) link
9/2/2015 03:11:15 am

I like your take on homeschooling! And your other posts.
BTW, photos of you and other authors are at my FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/M-A-Noble/1633730810178035

Reply
Scott link
9/30/2015 02:54:13 pm

I just saw this. Thanks for the post and the picture!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Audiobook

    Picture
    Order the Audiobook from Audible

    Archives

    February 2021
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    May 2014


    Categories

    All
    Homeschooling
    Life
    Movies
    Parenting
    Writing

    Subscribe to Newsletter
© COPYRIGHT 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Photos used under Creative Commons from KAZVorpal, symphony of love, Nern Bird, BuddaBoy, eflon, verchmarco, Marcus Bichel Lindegaard, Daddy-David, marksmorton, Brett Jordan, Dennis Valente, ajbunsby, FolsomNatural, Foto Jennic, Tambako the Jaguar, Tays Rocha, cliff1066™, sheggy, Ka `, Rum Bucolic Ape, TheBosque, Brett Jordan
  • Home
  • My Blog
  • Harvey Gorge's Journal
  • Video Editing Portfolio
  • Writing Portfolio
  • Press & News
  • Events
  • Contact
  • The Village of Kilhaven