The real thing

To this day, only two college classes have really educated me, and in both cases the instructors were adjunct -- meaning only part-time, taking a break from their day jobs to share their real world experiences with students. Timothy P Werhner, an astronomer teaching astronomy, was one, and Carol Chiodini, a director and screenwriter teaching screenwriting, was the other. While Werhner has fallen off my map (not surprising, as I recall him missing our first week of class due to being stranded at the South Pole!) I found a nice clip that one of Chiodini's students put up on You Tube. It briefly and accurately sums up what she's all about, and I think it is worth sharing.


I've sat through so many different classes with instructors who barely even hide the fact that they are only there for the paycheck, who don't care about your grade or what becomes of you after you leave the class. After great classes like Werhner's and Chiodini's, instructors who merely go through the motions stand out horribly. It almost feels like being taken backwards.

We desparately need more Timothy Werhners and Carol Chiodinis. I may not even write another screenplay, I'm more of a novel guy, but Carol's passion is something that has and will continue to inspire me to work hard at what I love to do because, like she said, if you don't you will never make it: The most important lesson I've learned to thus far, and a lesson that most of those other instructors are probably learning too late.