Michelle Zelazny graduated from Rowan’s TV and Film program last December. She has been in the “real” world ever since and is happy to share her experiences with us.
Q: What’s was going through your mind at graduation?
A: Well since I graduated early it was just in some ways a nice reunion. I did feel a sense of pride when i walked up on stage though.
Q: How much time passed after graduating before you landed a job in TV and film?
A: I had done a couple of freelance jobs right after I graduated for the place I interned. After that I worked on a season of Kitchen Impossible on DIY, thanks to a friend from school who I kept in touch with. At the moment, I’ve just been doing a lot of shorter random projects, since most places right now don’t want to hire long term.
Q: Do you have any advice for soon-to-be college grads in regards to anything they should do before or after graduation that might help them find/land a job?
A: Keep in touch with people from college, especially those who graduated before you. I happened to call a friend about something else and mentioned I was having a difficult time landing a steadier job. It was thanks to him I got to work on Kitchen Impossible. He helped land me the “audition” (if you want to call it that) and then I was able to prove myself and get a permanent spot on the second season. Keep in touch with professors too.
Q: What’s it like in the “real world”?
A: You have to take a lot more responsibility for your actions. What you put in is what you get out.
Q: Do you live at home? If so, what is it like to be back?
A: I do, but it works out nice at the moment because I’m saving to move out to California next year. It was a little bit of an re-adjustment, but I’m enjoying spending time with my family, since i know I’ll be moving across the country soon.
Q: Do you miss college at all? Anything you wish you did during your time at Rowan that you didn’t get to do?
A: I do in some ways, but I was done, as I knew it was my time to go. Rowan taught me a lot and now I get to further that knowledge with hands on learning on shoots. I do wish I’d studied abroad, my plan was to graduated early, which is why I didn’t. I think it would have been easier to see another part of the world.
I hope Michelle’s responses about her experiences influence you in some way, whether it is informative, helpful, motivational or just pure entertaining. There will also be other Q & A sessions in the future to look forward to so stay tuned!
Thank you Michelle!
[...] and have not done so already, please refer back to the interviews I had earlier in the year with Michelle and Professor [...]