Thanksgiving is almost upon us. With this break in the academic calendar, many college students will be making the trip to their home or their friends’ homes. For those of us lucky students who call ourselves majors or minors in the Theatre Department, we know that this day of gathering will result in at least one round of questions by parents, aunts, grandparents, etcetera, as to what we are planning to do with a degree in Theatre.
I know that as a senior Theatre major, I will get inundated with the questions that concentrate on what I am doing after I get a diploma next year. So for those of you parents out there who just can’t seem to handle that your precious child chose the Theatre Department over the Business School (here’s looking at you, Mom and Dad), I present to you the top 5 reasons that you should be thankful that your kid chose a Theatre major.
1) Critical Problem Solving.
Have you ever heard the expression, “the show must go on”? Yeah, we invented that. That is one of the biggest difficulties with live theatre. You have to convince an audience that what they see onstage is actually happening. If the prop gun does not fire, if the lead gets food poisoning the night before opening, if the set falls down in the middle of the performance, actors and the production team have to make it work. On-the-ball thinking is a must in the world of theatre. Theatre majors and minors are learning skills like this that can help them in any field that they go into.
2) Contrary to popular belief, they aren’t being pigeonholed into any particular career path.
If your child studies something like accounting, their specialization can sometimes work against them. Whether your kid is a performer or a designer or a member of the production team, they are learning skills that can be diversified into any number of fields. In my case, I am using my love of Shakespeare and linguistics to go into the field of entertainment law. I love analyzing every word that my character says and trying to get inside their head. The tools that I have learned as a Theatre major specializing in performance will almost all transfer into my chosen career path.
3) They are learning about their field while they are working in it.
This is one of my favorite things about being in an educational environment at my University. I am not only learning about my field in a classroom setting, I am actively applying my education whilst I am receiving it. Many of my friends will come out of the University as designers with a developed resume that they can use to find work. My dearest friend in the Department, Cheyenne, came to Wake as a stage manager. In her time here, she has deepened her understanding of both lighting design and sound design. She will graduate in two years with a resume that spans all three disciplines and can immediately get work without having to worry about going to graduate school in order to succeed.
4) Connections. Connections. Connections.
One of the biggest questions that I receive from my family when I go home is, “well, how do you plan to find work with your degree?” The idea of job instability is something that not many parents can stomach. They like to dream of their kid sitting at a desk, in a stable job, building up a 401k, and being able to put food on the table. The notion that their job has the possibility of changing every 3-6 months is not an appealing one. Once their contract is complete, it is back to finding a job. This is why I love my theatre department especially, and I know that there are many others like it. Wake’s Theatre Department has an alumni network that is all around the world. Every time I meet with one of my theatre professors, they offer connections with alumni and colleagues in many different fields. Through these introductions, I have a connection into my dream job at the Walt Disney Companies. The connections in the theatre world have incredible power. Your major or minor might not be making six digits, but if they continue to grow their connection network, they can find work somewhere.
5) Time Management!
I don’t think that I can stress this enough. Theatre majors/minors not only have to keep up with their other classes, but they are also attending nightly rehearsals that can be upwards of 4-5 hours long. Often, at these rehearsals, they can’t be completing homework while they are standing on a stage performing, or focusing a lighting rig, or calling a cue, so all coursework or studying must be completed outside of this time. Theatre kids at Wake have to keep up with the rigorous demands of attending a top 30 University on top of the production schedule. Time management is a critical tool for these individuals and it is one that will help them succeed in the long run.
