This study away experience has been eye-opening from three distinct areas: professionally, personally & culturally. Over the course of these two weeks, I have learned a lot about what the film & entertainment industry entails and the career paths within it. The truth is there are no set career paths for the experience I want to have. Much like every industry, there is a corporate world for most of these film studios and companies like Warner Bros, Netflix and Disney. My internship at HBO has shown this side with a more stable job and a ‘9-5’ structure. There are so many tasks that are required after a filmmaker makes the movie so that many audiences can consume it. The entertainment industry is finding itself shifting away from an art form and into a consumer product. This was eye-opening to me as I try to figure what kind of role I want to have here once I graduate from college next year.

Personally, there has been very long days in this program which has contributed to my own burnout. I work from 7am to 10:30pm five days a week which makes it difficult to really explore Los Angeles as much as I’d like to. This may match the crazy schedule I have coming out of college; the most successful people here seem to never not be working. I am glad I am being tested on that sort of schedule now – rather than being overwhelmed later down the road.

Culturally, Los Angeles is different than any other city I have been to. The city never changes no matter the season. Due to the climate, everyone is always doing the same activities everyday because it doesn’t go below 60 degrees outside. To build a city with that in mind is really interesting to me and something I have to get use to. Unfortunately, this also means that there are many homeless on the streets. It is really hard to see and there are dangers that I have to be aware of when it comes to that. Everything is also very spread out so time management has also been super important. Depending on the day and the amount of traffic, I don’t know if I can reach certain areas after work and before class. Nevertheless, the weekends have been so much fun and I am surrounded by a great group of people that makes everything better!