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What's up beautiful people?
It is your homegirl Ms. Shameless,
all up in her bedroom.
And this video is discussing the time
when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was in high school.
I get a lot of questions from my boos on
whether they should or shouldn't go to school,
a lot of confusion,
and since school is right around the corner
I thought I might address this in a lovely video
talking about my experience.
Keep in mind I'm an artist,
I am an artist. [laughs]
I am not a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher,
an accountant that requires a degree or diploma.
So back in the day, I was 18,
and the school and my mother both made me go to school.
I wish I had taken a year off, which I did eventually,
to discover who I am and what I enjoy.
But I said to myself, you know what? I enjoy the arts.
At the time I had been acting and doing dance,
and I would book work as a commercial actor
that required some dance abilities,
but my mom was like absolutely not,
you're not going to pursue that art, whatever as a career,
because that's not stable.
Business, accounting, all of these things,
academics are safe, basically.
So I was like OK fine.
Of these safe careers what could I do that I would enjoy?
And I was like, you know what? Advertising and marketing,
because I loved the arts, but I also loved business.
And kind of this channel is what that is.
Anyways, I went to school for business, ka-boom!
As a teenager going from kindergarten to grade 12,
and at the time for me was OAC, we had 13 years,
and then to another set of years of learning.
Oh my goodness, I discovered coffee,
I discovered substances
that would help me take the edge off my stress.
And after a year,
well after the first semester I was like I'm done,
I can't do this, I cannot do this.
I cannot imagine spending the rest of my life,
four years, in a situation like this,
where I don't, I'm not happy, I'm stressed out of my mind.
I didn't want to dropout after a semester,
so I did the full year.
My mom was really, really disappointed in me.
She was really upset with me, and I was a big embarrassment.
But you know what?
I don't know and I don't want to waste money
because university and college is expensive,
and if I'm taking something I don't enjoy
then I'm burning through money.
So I took a year off, and I was born and raised in Toronto,
so I took the year off and I came out to Los Angeles,
just to like get out of my city
because I had been born and raised there,
and I hadn't gotten out on my own.
So I did that, and in that process
I discovered that I am good in business,
but I'm also artistic, I love photography,
and I still enjoy acting.
So I was taking acting classes outside,
like so, like a workshop program,
and doing photography,
but I did want to go back into the institution,
that type of formal training.
So I asked myself, photography or acting?
I looked into photography,
and the tuition was what? You want me to pay what?
40k for what? For you to tell me something while I sit
and I don't even get to do it until like a week later,
no thank you.
So instead I was like you know what,
take the money you would have spent on tuition,
not $40,000, I didn't have $40,000,
I took $350 and bought myself a camera.
And I told myself, learn from the best, who do you admire?
So I emailed four photographers that I admired,
two of them wrote me back and I worked with them.
So, I was an intern and a volunteer.
I didn't get paid.
But I was so grateful because I was like,
you don't got to pay me
because I was going to pay them $40k,
but you don't even want to charge me,
and I get to do this for free,
and sometimes you throw me some money,
that's a sweet deal.
I ended up going to college, again,
this time for acting, for classical theater,
because I told myself I really enjoy acting,
it's something that just allows me to be all these characters,
and have fun and play dress-up and transform.
So I did that for two years,
and my reasoning was if I can do it every day I'll be better,
there's no way I can't.
And I got kicked out after two years,
not because of any academic reason,
like I was a slack student. It was just because.
The thing with conservatory programs,
dance, whether it's ballet,
you can get kicked out because you don't have a body type,
and the same thing kind of applies to classical theater.
I didn't have the type that they wanted so they booted me out,
but that was OK. It's a part of the memoir, right?
So, since then, since doing my three year stint as --
two years acting, one year business I was like
I work best by doing.
Five questions to ask yourself.
First is what kind of career do you want?
Does the career that you want require a diploma or degree?
What do you want to go to school for?
Do you have the time to be in school?
Do you have the financial means to go to school?
You don't think about it at the time
because it's always like you can pay it back,
you can pay it back.
A student loan is a bitch to pay back.
It took me over, I think ten years?
It took me ten years to pay that thing back.
And I have friends that are still paying theirs back.
They don't tell you these things in school.
They don't equip with the financial understanding
and resources to manage a personal bank account,
let alone tuition.
So, you have the money,
and how do you intend to pay your student loans back?
And then the 5th is how do you work best?
Do you work best in a classroom setting?
Maybe you work best with one on one training.
Maybe you work best in a workshop setting
with smaller groups, maybe you work best
studying online by yourself.
I know people that thrive and excel in school,
and oh my goodness I am so floored and impressed,
and yes do the things that you're good at.
Do the things that are fun and challenging for you,
and school offers that.
But keep in mind that everyone is different,
everyone has their own journey,
and everyone needs to examine what that is.
What can you see yourself doing every day
for the rest of your life?
And maybe it's not for the rest of your life,
because you can change your mind.
You can be a teacher for ten years
and say you know what? I change my mind.
You're never too old to start school.
You're never too old to go into school.
You're never too old to do anything, OK.
It's basically -- says who?
Says a bunch of followers?
You're never too old to do anything,
just do it, it's your life.
You're the one who has to die and live with whatever regrets
or things that you wish you did or didn't do.
Live your life. It's never too late.
Do not be ashamed.
Be shameless when it comes to your age
and your education.
I think in fact, I don't want to say better,
but it's great to go to school when you're older.
When you know who you are
and when you can say to yourself,
"I didn't know who I was at 18.
I know who I am at 35. I know who I am at 50, at 60.
I want to go to school for this because I know who I am."
And sometimes it happens that way.
And to have to be in a situation where I saw a lot of that,
a lot of -- especially for immigrants
when you move into a country where they tell you
your education from wherever you are doesn't count,
it sucks.
But if you have the money, if you have the means
to go to school,
if that means you're going to be able to do the things
that you're passionate about then explore that option.
A diploma and a degree does not equal success.
Being famous does not equal success.
Your happiness equals success.
Life is meant for you to explore
and have fun and cry and suffer and then triumph,
that's to me what life is, so.
I hope that helped you guys.
[laughs]
Also, you guys I have a Facebook group,
the "Do You Boo" group, and my boos are awesome,
and I have a challenge there, it's a 15 week challenge,
and it's basically breaking things down
to help you discover what your passion is.
So, read the description box for information.
Comment below and let us know what you're going to school for,
what are you passionate about,
and if you have any questions for the rest of us let us know.
And do not let shame and fear dictate your choices.
Do you boo! Be shameless.
I will see you guys next week.
Subscribe, like this video, share with all your friends,
especially those confused children
that don't know what to do.
You know what I'm saying? Shameless Maya is here for you.
[whispers] Shameless Maya is here for you.
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