Does college or training really matter?

[fishbowlfreshman]

<p>Here’s a “rant” by Doctorjohn from one of the old threads about the educational value of a BFA with which I couldn’t agree more …

Time was, as the parents on this thread remember, when Accounting majors and MBAs could write their own tickets. It’s just not true any longer. They have to compete for jobs just like actors have always had to. (There’s a certain sadistic satisfaction in that.) And you’re absolutely right about the kinds of skills you’ve already gained by studying theatre. A business major may know how to read a spreadsheet, but does he know how to read the person sitting across the table? Has he been trained in empathy? Does he know what he wants? Does he know if what he wants is a good thing for everyone, or just for himself? Does he know himself? You cannot study acting and not learn these things, even if you don’t become a great actor. And if you learn these things, there aren’t a lot of things you can’t do, with the possible exception of neurosurgery and nuclear physics. If there’s value in reading the great works of literature, isn’t there at least as much value in speaking them aloud, and bringing the characters to life? If there’s value in talking about politics in POLI 101, isn’t there at least as much value in enacting those situations in THR 151? Actors learn about literature and politics and psychology from the inside, from what it feels like to be living those scenes, and they learn it from some of the smartest people who ever lived, Euripides and Shakespeare and Chekhov and Brecht. If someone can make an argument for majoring in some other subject as a <better> way of learning how to live life, let them give it a try.

<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/5454-post16.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/5454-post16.html&lt;/a&gt; </better></p>

<p>Thanks, early_college. It’s nothing huge and the most exciting thing is that some people have taken an interest in having me SAG eligible at graduation. That along with the recommendation letters I’ll get will be a big help at showcase if they don’t make it out-and-out redundant. Now I just have to make sure I don’t find a way to mess it up! </p>

<p>Obviously, my attention has turned more towards transitioning into the real world, so I’m not sure how much help I can be around here anymore … probably much to the relief of some old timers. Funny. Sometime during third or fourth year the reality of trying to make a living at this starts to become less abstract and Bob Dylan smacks you right in the face with [Like</a> a Rolling Stone](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3wuwKRMBw0&feature=PlayList&p=73F5E4766C07D51F]Like”>www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3wuwKRMBw0&feature=PlayList&p=73F5E4766C07D51F). It’s only about a thousand times more terrifying than a looming college audition season … </p>

<p>I suppose upperclassmen in all majors are feeling like that right now, though …</p>