Professional Creative

Johnson often went around town telling everyone who would listen that he was a ‘professional creative’ though I’m not sure he understood what that meant. He was only nineteen and only had a ‘name’ for himself because one of his videos on TikTok went viral. That’s it.  He was a freshman in college and had no idea what he was going to do with his life and had never taken an art class before. 

What I hoped for him was that he would take videography and cinematography classes while we still had the chance. I knew Johnson had no guidance for his family as they were in and out of his life and in and out of jail. He was the first in his family to go to college and was hoping to be the first one to not live paycheck to paycheck. The more I thought about it, the more I didn’t care what he called himself as long as he came out ahead. Maybe college was the first time he had ever had any door opened for him without a fight. The day he disappeared from college for an entire week was the first time I worried he may have fallen back in with his old friends. The longer he stayed away, the more I worried. When he finally resurfaced, he quickly told the story of the movie he made. The movie exposed every nook, cranny and secret of the college. It was no wonder he was expelled.