Student Blog: Things We Want You To Know

Hey friends! I don’t know about you all, but we are in week two of the semester and I already feel like I’ve been here for a month. I’m very eepy, and already have a lot of homework, but I’m having a lot of fun and it feels so good to be back.

All of my roommates and I are seniors and we have been talking recently about how we wish we could go back to freshmen year and start all over again and experience everything again. This got me thinking about what I’d wanna tell today’s freshmen theater majors and what I’d want them to know before they embark on their college careers. So, I asked some of my friends and thought of some things myself and you guessed it, below is a list of some advice, from today’s senior class to today’s freshmen. So here we go!

You do not have to audition or participate in everything when you get here.

Once I got to school, I thought I had to audition and participate in everything there was to audition and participate in. I’m here to tell you that you do not have to. I did and I tried to, and I got very overwhelmed very quickly. I recommend trying everything at least once, but you don’t have to do it always. As a first year, it can be so tempting to want to do everything and jump head first into everything, but that is also how you can easily get burnt out and overwhelmed. College goes by fast, but I promise you have time to try a little bit of everything. Take on what you can handle and soak all of your firsts up! You also do not have to do anything that you do not want to do. Do what interests you and what you think is gonna help you grow as a performer and as a human.

Talk and get to know as many people as you can

You by all means do not have to be friends with everyone you meet, but definitely talk and get to know your classmates. Your networking process begins here. These are the people you are going to grow with and share your life with for the next 4 years. Enjoy saying hi to people as you pass them in the quad on the way to class. Make as many random inside jokes as you can. Spend time with people who fill your cup. These are the people who you can lean on once you graduate and start the next phase of your career. Plus it’s always amazing to have people to cheer you on and people in your corner that you can rely on.

Take your time and enjoy it goes quicker than you think

This one is an oldie but a goodie. I feel that if you asked any college senior about their journey, they would tell you it goes by way too fast. I cannot believe that I’m already about to graduate college. That phrase is crazy. And, I’m in my fifth year of college as well, so I really should be feeling like I’ve been here for a hot second, but I do not. It speeds by way too quickly. Soak it all up. Please. I beg you. Take pictures and videos. Save things to your snapchat memories because a few years from now, you’ll want things you can go and look back to and remember how much fun you had and how much you loved getting to be at school. 

Be a positive light and a good human being

Just be a good human being. Help others out around you. People want to do shows with/work with people who are good people and positive to be around. Those people are the kind of people who get asked back to the same theater companies/directors again and again. Be a light, even if no one else around you is being one. You are unique and amazing in your own ways. Embrace that and lean into that. Be you and uplift those around you. Uplift yourself. Be nice to yourself and others. That is what is important. Glow like no one else.

Those are just a few little nuggets of wisdom from the senior class to the incoming first years. I cannot emphasize enough how amazing and wonderful it is to be in college. Yes, we complain about the homework and millions of things we have to do, but in the end it is all worth it and is very beneficial. You will never quite be in this place with these people doing the things you are doing ever again, so enjoy all of it. It isn’t going to be easy by any means, but do what you can to enjoy what you can. You all are miracles. As always, go do great things.

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