I just locked my YouTube channel. Don't worry-you can still see those works of umpiring-video genius.
So, I figure I'd break down the stats and show you guys what you helped me accomplish.
Total views: 38,883
Total likes: 119
Total comments: 37
Total dislikes: 7
Final number of productions: 10
Most popular production: Ejection Party with 101 likes, 35,184 views, 34 comments, and six dislikes.
Second most popular production: My Hero with two likes, 1,089 views, and one dislike.
As you can see, that is a big gap. On average my videos have between two and three hundred views. My last big project, Ejection Party, was a video made by the demand of my audience. My audience did not fail to show their approval.
So, while you can still see those videos through YouTube, no more will be made. I am looking to take the skills I learned making those videos and putting them together in a bigger way.
I am probably going to sideline umpiring for a long time starting my senior year. I've started applying for pre-req classes for a film degree from the University of Alaska: Fairbanks but in all likelihood I will be enlisting in the Marine Corps in May 2019 and striving to become a public affairs specialist, where I will be able to use my skills as a filmmaker AND a writer. After a three year enlistment, I may go to the Savannah College of Art and Design for film or TV production. Or I might go to umpiring school. It all depends on the next few upcoming years, which will prove to be the most important in creating my life outside of Alaska.
As some of you know, my fifteenth birthday is in eight days. U-E, you've known me since I was a snot-nosed, barely-thirteen-year-old little asshole with a chip in my shoulder and a hate for authority, always ready for a fight, not afraid to pick them, and just not caring what people thought. Almost all of you have pressured me many ways, both good and bad, such as basically only the one guy who was always bitching about how I hated the idea of college, or the several who think I can succeed in the military. There were those who stood up for me, those who treated me like a kid sister, those who mentored me, tutored me, and those who forgave me for being an arrogant, ignorant little SH*#head with no filter and no sense of empathy. There are those who think I'm actually funny, those that put up with the never ending teenagitis, and those who don't care what I do to mess up, they'll still help me out of whatever SH*#storm I create. Even those who hate me and think I have no place here-you left your mark and you'll never know if it was good or bad. I have 36 short months to make myself into something worth something to society. I fully intend to succeed. In the past two years, you guys have seen me grow up so much, and indeed, helped me get there, but I still have a far way to go. I would not have developed into the filmmaker or writer, or decision maker that I am and soon will be without the help, support, and "best one yet"'s from all of you guys. As the saying goes; every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
And for that, U-E, I thank you, and dedicate Canadian Shield's success to you.