The Beginning

This My story begins when I was 7 or 8.

I go back so far only because I feel like everything seemed to lead up to the big event. If certain things had not happened as they did, I might not have been so lucky. I feel very strongly, looking back on everything, that God was writing my story from the beginning. I just followed the pages, willingly, and now have the ability to share the story of how it all happened.

So let's rewind to... 1987 or so. I don't really remember the exact date or year, as most things are fuzzy in my memory. I know that my sister was in high school taking classes in television production. She loved the school, she loved the classes, she loved her class mates, and she loved her teacher. I adored my sister; still do really. She's always been there for me. So seeing her passion for television production made me want to do it too. I was lucky enough to attend an elementary school that had, for lack of a better term, A.V. classes. They weren't really introductory television, but I taped student government speeches and school plays. My sister was right. It was fun.

I'll pause for a little background information. These were the days when video was captured onto VHS video tapes, before memory cards and the cloud. Most schools in those days were outfit with bulky camcorders that mounted on a tripod. They weighed in the neighborhood of 15 pounds alone and looked something like the one to the right.  If you weren't using a tripod, you hoisted the machine onto your shoulder and stabilized it with your right hand on the hand grip near the lens. Then you set up your shot through the viewfinder with your right eye while closing your left so the live image and the electronic image don't get interposed and give you a major headache.

I know first hand about the headache because I have a lot of trouble closing my left eye while keeping the right open. (From what I understand this is unusual for a right-handed person like myself.) But I can keep my left eye open while closing the right very easily. Luckily for me, camera manufacturers encountered this and most camcorders had a sliding viewfinder, so my left eye saw it all and my right eye got to rest.

Trust me, this is all important. Stick with me. 

 

I went to middle school and took more t.v. production classes, most of which focused on creating a video yearbook for the school. But by the time I got to high school I knew television was my medium for art. No, I'm not saying I was artistic. I still had a lot to learn. But I loved that I could get behind a camera and create something that could be meaningful... newsworthy or entertaining. And it wasn't all about camera work... I could write or direct. I could design storyboards and edit. There was so much I could do!

And so, my education brought me to the same high school my sister had attended, William G. Enloe High School in Raleigh, NC. And (lucky me!) the same video production teacher was still there! So on my first day of classes my teacher, Curry Leslie, made me realize how much I had to learn. He was a veteran of the television production field and had real world applications to teach us. We drafted stories and envisioned music videos. We aired live daily news shows for the school. I had the opportunity to wear so many hats... master control, director, editor, CG, camera operator, and the list goes on... and I loved it all. This was my calling. This is what I was meant to do. And Mr. Leslie helped me by providing boundless opportunity.

In my sophomore year, we were able to partner with a local t.v. station to air a for-teens, by-teens documentary program highlighting issues we face in high school and offered solutions. And it would be broadcast! So we developed a production company and planned our first episode of "On the Edge," focusing on substance use and abuse. I stayed behind the camera, planning and providing camera support. All with my left eye. Mr. Leslie even commented on it a couple times. It didn't matter because our work on getting that documentary aired won us a regional Emmy Award. And then we won another one the year after that.

I had two Emmys before leaving high school. Yes, it was a group effort and a group award. Yes, the documentary was what you might expect from high school students. But I was proud because of the work we put into it. This was going to be my career.

My mom, me, my dad and my sister after my graduation from WCU

So I went to college, pursuing electronic media. I had more amazing experiences (live data collection for election night coverage and camera work with a local news affiliate for their Friday night sports show, to name a few) and studied under fabulous mentors (thank you, Don Connelly). I graduated from Western Carolina University in December 2002 with a piece of paper that declared I knew all about electronic media! But WCU wasn't a hot program for that discipline (which Mr. Leslie had advised me of. But moving to California or New York sounded so scary to me.) and even though I sent my resume and demo tape to news affiliates all over the country, I didn't hear back from any of them. So I stayed home and got temp jobs until I could make my career a reality.

During that time my sister wanted my help taking pictures for her new side income: eBay sales. I was more than happy. I would set up the camera, frame the shot, press the button, then post the sale. Digital cameras still had viewfinders then. So I was still using my left eye to frame the shots. But I wasn't able to focus them to my liking. Something just wasn't right.

After, my dad suggested I go see his ophthalmologist to make sure everything was okay. I wish I could remember the doctor's name. I would send him a beautiful bouquet of irises (Get it? Har har!) because when it comes down to it, that doctor, a relentless ophthalmologist, saved my life.

Next came the longest week of my life. Which is, coincidentally, the name of the next chapter.