Greetings and Salutations my fellow Dawg’s!
You all may be wondering “Who in the world is the account owner of “The Dawg House!?” Well, let me set the record straight; My name is Rex McKeeman. (yes that is my real name and no it is not short for anything)
I chose the title “The Dawg House” because the name Rex is a name begrudgingly associated with a dog… so I thought it was clever to integrate that somehow.
I am a transfer student from Creighton University, though it has been a few years since I left.
Similar to many of you, I went to college straight out of high school with wide-eyed hope and aspirations. The problem was that I had no idea what I was actually doing there. I opted to go for a degree in finance.
When I initially went to school I joined every club, I volunteered regularly and I got a finance internship at a place I worked really hard to get… you know… to pad that resume. I came to the realization during my sophomore year that I really didn’t like my internship that I worked really hard to get and I really didn’t like finance. I was at a loss in life. Business and finance was something I always thought was going to be “the thing” for me. So, what does a person do when they are shelling out thousands of dollars and taking multiple student loans for a school that was too expensive for their means and having no idea why they are in school anymore? I quit. (I’m still paying back those loans and it was only 2 years)
My parents told me that if I wasn’t going to be in school; I had to be doing something. With a shot-in-the-dark decision to make; I decided to move from good ol’ small town Nebraska to New York City to become an actor! Mind you, I do have some decent acting background prior to moving so I don’t think it was totally irrational.
“Why did you come back to school?” you may be asking yourself. Well, I’ve been floundering about NYC over 5 years now.
I graduated from “The William Esper Studio” a professional acting conservatory my first 2 years here and you quickly come to realize acting does not safely pay the bills month to month. I know.. I know… that should be obvious, but it’s one of those things that if I didn’t at least try; I would regret it the rest of my life.
Anyways, I bussed tables for about a year and a half. They wouldn’t let me be a server because I had no restaurant background… I guess in NYC actually waiting tables is more exclusive than I thought it would be… (God, I hated bussing, but me and Antonio were quite the bussing duo though.)
Something kind of cool I did was work as a production assistant on a few Broadway shows, but it was sort-of seasonal and inconsistent, and honestly you mainly just run around trying to buy stuff, but it’s never like “go get a hammer” It’s more like “I need a small turquoise pillow that has little clouds printed on it and I need it in 2 hours.” Which is not as easy as you may think, especially when you are still new to the city and have no idea where to even start.
I still needed some consistent pay. I found a job on craigslist as a secretary at a small tax preparation business. Finally, some money I can actually relax with. I’ve built a good rapport at this job and I’m no longer a secretary, but I’ve leveled up to (assistant/ office manager / data entry / phone answerer / file “put-awayer.” looking at this promotion… it sounds like I’m still a secretary… but whatever the pay is better and I sit in the back of the office and not the front with all the clients anymore!
Unfortunately, seeing as this is a small business, I’ve probably neared my ceiling of upward scalability and I don’t see myself being able to keep doing this as I get older; as I do want a house, kids, a family, etc.
Now, I’m going back to school because… well to be completely honest, because of Covid I’m able to take all my classes online, which allows me time to keep working and surviving and since I’m poor enough I get some great financial aid from FAFSA and TAP that allows me to reasonably go to school without breaking the bank.
I have a major interest in Esports (people who play videogames competitively) I do a weekly podcast about competitive Call of Duty called “The Best of Three Podcast” with 2 of my friends. My dream would be to get a job in this exclusive industry.
I felt like a good first step would be to finally get a degree so I have more of a leg to stand-on when applying for jobs. I chose Radio and Broadcast as a degree because it feels like something I could be good at and I think I would enjoy it.
Honestly, my degree choice is fraught with much debate and contemplation for me still. Part of me wanted to do an accounting degree. Not because I love accounting, but because its safe and I already have a decent understanding of it, but I really can’t see myself being able to do that day-in-and-day-out. Sitting at some cubicle, at some corporation balancing books for a place that no one knows my name just isn’t my cup of tea. I like my freedoms, what can I say?
Welcome to The Dawg House! I hope we all find the bone we are looking for!