Is This What I Want To Do When I Grow Up?

With only one and a half semesters to go here at Westminster College, I've started thinking more about what exactly I would like to do when I graduate. My generic answer used to be, "I want to work in TV, probably producing or reporting. Or maybe radio, I like that, too." But now it's time to get serious. I mean it's hard to know where the road will take me or how many times I'll change my mind, but I think for right now, I've finally found something I would love to do for a living, a career that would make me want to get up every morning with a happy outlook on life.

Basically, what I want to do is what Rick Sebak does. He's a film director and producer, based out of Pittsburgh, Pa., that makes unusual, but interesting documentaries, stories, and films for local public TV stations, especially PBS affiliates such as WQED. According to imdb.com, Sebak is the "inventor of the public television nostalgia documentary." He calls his cultural stories, "scrapbook documentaries."

At the beginning of his career, Sebak worked at the South Carolina Educational Television Network. While he was working there, he created the award-winning documentary, "Shag," about the official state dance of South Carolina. Later, Sebak went on to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Soon after, he moved to Pittsburgh, where he's made more than 30 documentaries and short films, including "The Mon, The Al, & The O," "Pittsburgh A to Z," "An Ice Cream Show," and "A Cemetery Special."

Sebak shows his audience a "scoop of life" in each of his stories, through colorful sounds, images, and narration. He takes the feature storytelling route, just like I'm trying to do with my senior capstone project. I want to show my audience what it was like to live in all different time periods in Lawrence County. Plus, I would love to do some traveling for my job; plus I would meet unique and interesting people every day. It sounds like an exciting lifestyle and career, and I've always loved PBS programming.

So, maybe this is what I want to do when I grow up?