When it comes to college majors, every student finds themselves struggling with what they've chosen to study. At some point, you'll be waving your fist at the sky and cursing your decision to ever study this godforsaken subject in the first place. Is this really what I want to do with the rest of my life? Why do I put myself through so much misery? Perhaps a certain point of study has come to mind - nursing and engineering majors go through endless seas of tests every week, it seems. However, what many students are still learning, is that, these aren't the only areas of interest that demand the blood, sweat, and tears of its students. There is another subject that works its students to death, that demands hundreds of hours of work, that doesn't let them sleep. I'm talking about the arts.
That's right, I'm talking about the artists at your university that hardly see anything outside the walls of the art studio or the performing arts center. How can sculpting or memorizing lines compare with hundreds of hours of studying? I, myself, am a theatre major. What many students don't realize, is that there is a significant difference in the way (most) art students are given work. A good number of majors deliver homework and tests every week. During finals week, the student spends hours studying for The Final Test.
A visual or performing art student's life is similar in work load, but in an entirely different way. Instead of smaller tests every week leading up the The Final Test, we are often given large projects that are spread out over the school weeks. These projects demand no less amount of work; in fact, they are worth a good portion of our grade. Whether that project be a specific drawing or a two person scene, varies on your major. Instead of The Final Test we prepare for The Final Project. This is usually a number of difficult art pieces, or a few monologues and scenes, not to mention all the extra hours put in outside the classroom. My freshman year consisted of over 75 hours worked in the scene shop. I also had to work on character development, memorization, movement, and research while taking on a character in a performance. All the hours of research and development put into a character are for only three performances at my university. After that, we take down the set that took us tens of hours to make and start from scratch for the next show.
In no way am I implying that one major is inferior to another. On the contrary, I believe that both of these areas of study require an incredible amount of hard work and passion. No one could spend hours every week studying for multiple tests without a passion and a drive for what they're doing. I've always admired students with these types of majors for continuing to excel in such a difficult, intense area of study. What I hope to do, is shed light on the academic areas that sometimes are perceived by society as "less than" or "easy." It isn't fair to incoming students who wish to pursue these areas, but are hesitant due to negative stereotypes. Hopefully as current students, we can communicate to these new students that no matter the area of study, a desire to learn is the most important thing.
