She's talking about a gap year

NotMamaRose
Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:26:51 +0000

Just a note to remember that temperamental teachers and classroom politics don’t end in high school: they go on into college and into the real professional world, too. The business our kids want to go into is rife with unfairness and subjectivity, probably more so than almost any other field I can think of. In a math class, the person who gets the least problems wrong on the test is the best student. But in acting and musical theater, well, three different “experts” can watch a performance and each may have a very different opinion. A BFA may not require as much “book learning” and “book related prep” as an academic degree does, but it has its own unique and incredible tensions, too. BFA kids generally have jam packed days and nights (rehearsal for class, scene study with friends, rehearsals for productions and in class performances, etc.) and their in-class work is very emotionally laden because they are putting themselves out there, personally, day after day, and being criticized. Bottom line: it is tough in a way that those of us who don’t perform cannot imagine. This comes as a surprise to some students, who while in high school absolutely loved being in musicals and plays and doing summer camps, but who find it to be plain hard and often draining work when they get to college and are doing it pretty much full time. Please note that this is not meant to sound discouraging; on the contrary, my own kids LOVES her program and can’t imagine studying and training for anything else. But those who imagine that a BFA is less pressured and draining than, say, a degree in physics or Sociology really just don’t know what they are talking about.