You’ve just turned eighteen, and life stretches before you like a blank sheet of paper. So many possibilities, right? You’re convinced the world revolves around you, and success will land effortlessly in your lap. Yet, the village of Vejprnice near Pilsen (Czechia), where you live, doesn’t offer much in the way of opportunity. Your parents are pressuring you to attend a architecture-focused high school, convinced you can’t succeed without an education. Little do they know that instead of catching the morning bus to school, you’re cutting across the fields, waiting for their cars to leave, and sneaking back home.

Countless times, you’ve ended up hiding in the closet for hours, praying not to get caught when they return earlier than expected. And the humiliation of sneaking downstairs late in the afternoon, slamming the door, and pretending you just got home from school—it’s part of the deal when you skip classes and can’t defend studying something you have no interest in. Weekends are spent working at the family cottage, and your life feels like it’s stuck in a loop.

The Limits of Skipping School

Unexcused absences pile up, and even though your kindly aunt, a dentist, writes you notes and keeps the truth from your homeroom teacher, it’s a fragile arrangement. If your excuses for wisdom tooth extractions were true, you’d rival a great white shark in dental surgeries. Unsurprisingly, your truancy reaches a tipping point. You’re standing in the principal’s office, being berated during a disciplinary meeting about how you’re destined to end up at the bottom of society. It’s a deeply scarring experience—the first time you start wondering if they might be right.

What’s Next?

You’re on the verge of being expelled, with just 200 crowns in your wallet. One day, while wandering the fields, a brilliant plan forms: you’ll become a DJ.

A friend gives you music software as a birthday gift, and by the end of the weekend, you’re a self-proclaimed hitmaker (at least in your own mind). There’s just one problem: you have no equipment. You need a mixer and turntables. It’s time to rally your friends to invest in your mission.

“Listen, we’ll all profit from this DJ thing. There’s no way this can fail, right?”

The DJ Hustle

Starting a music career isn’t easy. You quickly realize you need to stand out if you want to earn more than free drinks at a bar. At the time, the Czech club scene is dominated by DJ P.M.C. from Brno, a radio host and one of the first DJs to master online mixes. His tracks aren’t just technically polished—they feature unique intros and samples that elevate him to a different level.

Inspired, you call a local radio station and offer 5,000 crowns for professionally recorded English voiceovers, translated by your sister because you don’t know a word of English.

“I keep you high, I keep you cool, you never gonna be lonely, DJ Kalium, the one and only.”

The recording session is humiliating. The staff frequently mute their microphones to comment: “What kind of idiot is this? I’m not recording this nonsense.”

Perseverance Pays Off

Months of hard work pay off. You land gigs in clubs, including the legendary Roxy in Prague, alongside DJ P.M.C. You even get a spot on Očko TV. Email becomes your secret weapon—back in 2007, people respond to almost everything. The connections you make during this time will shape your future. One of them is a young musician, Jaroslav Beck, whom you meet at a Plzeň KFC because his impressive website intrigues you. (But that’s a story for another time.)

A New Direction

Despite your progress, life at home remains bleak. Your parents don’t understand your passion. You don’t drink or do drugs, but stepping over passed-out teenagers every Friday night after DJing doesn’t bring you joy either. One day, a friend shows you a simple 3D scene he created for a music video, bragging that it took him five years to learn. Intrigued, you calculate how old you’ll be in five years and decide it’s worth pursuing.

You present your parents with a bold plan: quit school and dedicate yourself to becoming a Hollywood-level 3D artist. Chaos ensues. They argue there’s no Hollywood behind your village and demand you either return to school or support yourself. The choice is stark: play it safe or risk everything on a dream.

Crossing the Ocean

You research schools in New York and find two options: one focused on music and another, the Digital Film Academy, specializing in animation. The tuition is astronomical, and your parents can’t help. In desperation, you convince a close friend to take out a loan in his name. The responsibility is entirely his, but he believes in your passion. Even now, you feel shame for dragging him into your problems.

With the loan secured, you’re ready to go. But there’s one glaring problem: your English is non-existent. You spend the weeks before departure cramming with little success. Your sister handles the application and correspondence, and you prepare to leave, unaware of the challenges ahead.

The Flight to the Unknown

At the airport, your parents still don’t believe you’ll board the plane. As you take off, the excitement fades. A flight attendant hands you a customs form, and you can’t understand a single word. Ten kilometers above the Atlantic, reality sets in. Optimism gives way to doubt, and you ask yourself: What now?