Full-Circle Failure Pt. 1

I am not famous. I am not a billionaire. I am not a business executive. I am not an influencer.

So what?

I am my own man, who does what he wants, when he wants. Poor me.

I recently received my quarterly copy of USC Trojan Family Magazine. It is a magazine put out for USC alumni to see how great their fellow Trojans are.

One look at me, and it’s hard for a lot of people to believe me when I say I graduated from said school. I am not a stereotypical Trojan. Truth be told, I didn’t fit in when I went there. Just like today, I was the guy that didn’t fit the mold. They couldn’t kick me out because I was smart enough to get good grades (on my own), but I wasn’t exactly the guy you wanted to put front and center to show off the great things USC offered.

The funny part is in high school I wanted to be a screenwriter. I worked my ass off to get accepted to USC. Getting accepted was one of the greatest moments of my life. Walking the beautiful campus gave me an extreme sense of pride.

Like Hollywood though, I soon realized it was all a facade.

My problem was I wanted to learn the craft of screenwriting. What I learned was everything was an audition. My first class was filled with connected kids. A few had film producer fathers. One was already a published author. I was impressed, as it should be.

Until I read their work.

I won’t get into details, but the funny part was at the end of the semester my professor called me into the office and told me she didn’t think I had what it took to be a writer. She gave me a B when I needed a B+ to advance to the next writing class.

Failure – 1. Me – 0.

As luck, or fate, would have it, I somehow ended up at Hollywood Park for their Friday night race program with my cousin. Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred racetrack that is now So-Fi Stadium. My cousin had just bought a book on beating the races and wanted to try it out. When we left, he had profited something like $7. I lost like $20.

Failure – 2. Me – 0.

Being the competitive jerk I am, I scoured multiple bookstores and bought every book on horseracing I could find. It wasn’t long before I wasn’t even going to class. I was at the track most days. I did show up to class on important days, like tests and report days. In the end, I graduated.

Failure – 2. Me – 1.

One hilarious note, or slap to my face, was the commencement speakers were George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Draw. Failure – 2. Me – 1.