my first week of grad school is over

Well, my first week as a grad student is over (as the title of this blog says). I have to say, I absolutely love the Graduate Film program. We have been incorporated into the film/Tisch family and are already being treated as professional filmmakers. We have joined a family that includes the likes of Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese, and it feels great. Everything is about us and all of the faculty give us the tools we need to succeed, and every single one has said the same thing: it isn't about talent but instead work ethic, and if each of us do exactly as they say and work hard we will achieve what we want to. I know that if I work harder than I ever have before on developing my skills and my craft, I will be a working director in no time. That's no longer a hope but a solid reality thanks to this program. And there was another party in a different Tisch department we were invited to last night so more free beer/wine. 

My weeks are busy trying to balance office hours and my eight classes and additional editing labs, but I'm doing what I love and living in NYC for free so I have no complaints. I'm making some great friends and interacting with some great filmmakers/fellow classmates. I wrote an outline for our first project (a four-minute silent film that will be shot entirely outside on black and white 16mm film). I met with my writer teacher and she really liked it. She gave me some tips on how to improve it and told me to bring it to class to workshop it. I am proud of myself for having written a draft so early in the semester. Now I have plenty of time to play around with some other ideas and strengthen the one I already have.

Going to see my first Broadway show for free on Sunday night with some fellow classmates (all Tisch students got a free ticket to Spring Awakening as a "welcome"). I'm excited. 

Meeting up with Jeff (from Towson) for some drinks tonight. It's raining here for the first time since the day I moved in. Everything gets wet, crossing the street is like walking through a stream, and umbrellas get popped open from the wind that streams in between the buildings. But I love it.