Thursday, September 15, 2005
because i know you're not tired of this yet!
one of my friends, the one i spoke about in the last post, strongly suggested that i talk to as many people as i can in the next months, as i'm trying to make this graduate school decision. so i wrote emails the next day to this dramaturg i know, this writer guy who teaches at a community college in manhattan, a former college professor and a couple friends-of-friends.
my old college professor, someone i really like, sent me an email that returned me right back to the euphoria i felt when i first thought i'd decided to do this. i actually cried a little.
It's so good to hear from you! Not that I ever doubted that you'd show up at some point, but still...it's nice to know that you've not been run over by a bus or some other terrible thing. Then again, making major decisions regarding your career is no walk in the park...
I (think I) understand exactly what you're up against: Should you continue to do what you love, even though it requires more or less constant struggle, or should you take a chance on an academic option and achieve greater stability? Honestly, I think that the academic option is exactly the right one. You would still be able to act, and, equally important, you'd be living a life in which you still eat, drink, and breathe theatre...that is, you'd be discussing it, and criticizing it, and teaching it, and reading about it. You'd also be professionally obliged to attend it, and you'd remain connected to it as an industry or institution, both locally and nationally.
Here's the other part: I think you'd be a terrific teacher, and you would thrive on the energy from students just as they would find your energy and vitality irresistable.
By the by, I don't advise everyone to go into academics. In fact, I tell lots of people that I don't think it's the right path for them; however, you'd fit perfectly into a college campus as a faculty member.
I think you should go back to school and do the MA, and probably the Ph.D., although that's another conversation (one involving whether you love marathons, and the question of how rewarding you find research). Sorry--I'm being sort of brutally unequivocal with your life and options, but I trust you to take this with a grain of salt, as the old saying goes.
Let me know what you wind up deciding.
Best wishes! Good luck!
--David
my old college professor, someone i really like, sent me an email that returned me right back to the euphoria i felt when i first thought i'd decided to do this. i actually cried a little.
It's so good to hear from you! Not that I ever doubted that you'd show up at some point, but still...it's nice to know that you've not been run over by a bus or some other terrible thing. Then again, making major decisions regarding your career is no walk in the park...
I (think I) understand exactly what you're up against: Should you continue to do what you love, even though it requires more or less constant struggle, or should you take a chance on an academic option and achieve greater stability? Honestly, I think that the academic option is exactly the right one. You would still be able to act, and, equally important, you'd be living a life in which you still eat, drink, and breathe theatre...that is, you'd be discussing it, and criticizing it, and teaching it, and reading about it. You'd also be professionally obliged to attend it, and you'd remain connected to it as an industry or institution, both locally and nationally.
Here's the other part: I think you'd be a terrific teacher, and you would thrive on the energy from students just as they would find your energy and vitality irresistable.
By the by, I don't advise everyone to go into academics. In fact, I tell lots of people that I don't think it's the right path for them; however, you'd fit perfectly into a college campus as a faculty member.
I think you should go back to school and do the MA, and probably the Ph.D., although that's another conversation (one involving whether you love marathons, and the question of how rewarding you find research). Sorry--I'm being sort of brutally unequivocal with your life and options, but I trust you to take this with a grain of salt, as the old saying goes.
Let me know what you wind up deciding.
Best wishes! Good luck!
--David
