As students, we constantly find ourselves being told to be more "well-rounded". For some, however, that's much easier said than done. Not saying that every major isn't difficult, but some are more time-consuming than others. For instance, theatre and musical theatre. Most of our classes are not extremely difficult nor do we have tons of exams or papers. But, these classes require so much time outside of the classroom that we find ourselves with little free time. Some of these after-hour assignments include: studying (because believe it or not we do actually have real tests), learning monologues, constantly learning and perfecting audition pieces (both monologues and songs), adding to and polishing our repertoire, and meeting with classmates to rehearse for group performance projects. Then as if we didn't already love theatre enough, we have rehearsals every night for about 3-4 hours. But don't get me wrong, rehearsals are usually the highlight of the day.
Now, don't misunderstand me. I am in no way complaining about the work load. As theatre majors, we are some of the most dedicated students you will meet. We absolutely love what we do, but all too often we are accused of not being social enough. And this is true of several majors. You won't see us at movie night, silent countdown, or all of the homecoming activities. This is not because we don't wish to participate, but because we're in rehearsal. Just like others have papers and projects, rehearsal is a mandatory part of our curriculum. But, we aren't just doing it for "the love of theatre". We work hard to get cast, because that adds another credit to our resume which we will then use when we graduate. We're planning for the future.
Often we keep our friend group within the theatre because we're the only ones who understand our crazy schedule. Others tend to get frustrated when we aren't ever available to hang out or we're just "too tired". If you're friends with a theatre major, be prepared for them to ask you to get Taco Bell with them somewhere between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. That's our "energy burst" time when we literally get everything done.
Even though we are extremely busy, never count us out. Many of us are part of several organizations, and though it's hard, we learn how to balance ourselves. It requires a lot of organization and dedication, but you won't find us falling short. If we set our minds to something, we will get it done. Wether it's the student activities board, resident assistant, or some form of Greek life, we will do our best to treat every activity with as much dedication as we do the theatre.
