As the season would suggest, my Facebook has been blowing up with students anxiously leaving for college or excited about returning. Since a majority of these students are artists, and though I've graduated, I began reflecting on my own experience as a BFA student. Here's NINE things I wish I knew before I started.
1. You are NOT in competition with those around you. Your classmates and you are all on the same team. Rather than scoping out the competition, try scoping out other students that may have something to teach you in these next few years. You’ve got your whole life to audition and “compete” with people. In college, make allies, not enemies.
2. Your personal worth and improvement can not be measured by comparing yourself to others. I don’t care if you’re the same height, type, and age as the person next to you. You’re a different person and somewhere along your professional journey, somebody is going to want YOU and NOT your TWIN. YOU are your greatest asset because YOU are the one thing nobody else will ever be. If somebody’s “better” than you, ask them help! Same team, remember?
3. You don't have to book summer stock/professional work every summer. First off, summer stock kinda sucks. It's usually a bunch of twenty somethings who think they're professional actors and enjoy getting wasted every evening after their mediocre outdoor production that half the cast is wrong for anyway because they were cast as Paulette in Legally Blonde and unfortunately have to fake their way through the sexy, asian ensemble of Miss Saigon. Read, vocalize, stretch, and dance every day over the summer. YOU are in charge of your progress, not some unified audition that sees 700 people in two days.
4. School is about building your SKILLS, not your RESUME. My greatest learning experiences in college came from my time as an observer rather than a doer. As a stage manager, I got to watch dozens of actors and several directors utilize skills I had been learning about. I started taking notes at rehearsal. By the time I was in the spotlight, (which I knew how to run) I had a small armageddon of techniques to try. Plus the more skills you have, the more jobs in the theatre. Any job in a theatre is a step towards your dream.
5. Good theatre is worth your money. See as much as you can. For the love of all that is good in this world, you are learning new skills and techniques every day of your life for the next four years. The BEST thing you can do is watch professionals doing what you’re learning about right now. Flash that student ID at every regional theatre around, grab a $20 ticket and skip the restaurant after if you’re tight on money.
6. Read plays! Every day. You're not cute or funny when you say "I know I'm a theatre major but I know NOTHING about plays." You're trying to be a professional in this field. Read plays. Listen to cast recordings. Can you imagine if a doctor waited to learn about brain surgery until they "booked" a patient? Don't be the guy who "knows it's bad" but "just doesn't read plays until he's in them." That guy doesn't get rehired.
7. Freshman year won't look like sophomore year, which won't look like junior year... and who KNOWS what SENIOR year will look like? When you study Stanislavski method, you’ll learn that the art of experiencing is much more potent than the art of representation. That goes for life too. Your schedule, habits, passions and friends will all change over the next four years. That’s OKAY. Take it one day at a time and the things and people that matter will stick around.
8. Take a 'sabbath' from the theatre. Help us all by keeping the sacred space, sacred. I loved Sundays because they meant church, two sports games on television and bible study at night. Monday came and I was excited to get back in the theatre. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and prevents burnout.
9. Don't just fail well, FAIL BRILLIANTLY. That’s right. Fail so hard it ends up on youtube. Be wise, but be BRAVE. Be cautious, but be FEARLESS. This is your safe place. For the next four years, try with everything you've got, and when you fail, fail BRILLIANTLY.
I originally had ten, but I realized it was pretty similar to another. So, I ask you, what would your NUMBER 10 be?
