Jill - Film & Media Production Degree

From the start of my high school career, I was set on a path to attend University. I took academic level courses, which in my final two years of high school turned into university level courses. I had the marks and the enthusiasm and I was all set to apply to universities, or so I thought.

I have always known that I wanted to be in the arts. Ever since I was little I wanted to be an actress; I would dress up, recite monologues and put on shows with my brother. As I got older, I fell in love with films. I had a collection of DVDs and my favorite part about putting on a movie was the special features. Before I would watch the movie, I would devour everything related to behind the scenes: interviews, talks about casting, anything! I fell in love with the magic of movies. I knew from that moment on I wanted to be behind the camera and make films in any capacity possible.

Although I absolutely loved film, I was torn. I saw how hard it was for my single mother who had no post-secondary education, to work and support us and I didn’t want to find myself in that position. I wanted an education to fall back on and I wanted a degree, as no one else in my family had one. I also thought that a degree would be useful for my future. If I found myself struggling in film or got tired of long set hours, I could work for a broadcaster or media company. I figured if I had to work a 9 to 5 job at least it would be in a field I’m interested in.

With this new insight I started to research universities, to no avail. Every program I read said that the courses were academic and theoretical based. I didn’t want to learn how to make films, I wanted to make films. My mom suggested I look into colleges. Initially, I looked down on this idea, as I thought it was a place for individuals who couldn’t make it into the big universities and I still wanted a degree. However, after searching, I came across Humber. It had everything I wanted, I was able to get the degree I’d always dreamed of as well as get hands-on practical experience and actually make my own films! It was my younger self’s dream come true!

I took a tour and fell in love with the campus, it was so close to the water, similar to my hometown. It was also a short ride away from Toronto which was exciting to my small town self. Seeing the studios in the Media building is what sold me though. The studios had large doors and I felt like I was in Hollywood. After the tour I applied to the Film and Media Production program and started that following September. I made it to Humber and it gave me the confidence to believe I could make it to Hollywood too!