Ask My Frends - Off to College

If you read my post on Monday you know I teach at the Missouri State Thespian Conference every year. Last year I met a bright up and coming student who is one of the best networkers from all my years teaching. He stays in touch with me and always lets me know what he is up to. His name is James Hesse and he is currently a freshman at Nebraska Wesleyan University getting his B.F.A. I asked Jesse what his freshman year was like and what he wished he had known going into it.

“When I graduated high school I didn't exactly feel like a big fish in a small pond, but I thought I had reasonable experience in theater. College was a big smack in the face. I was lucky enough to start my freshman year a few months early and perform in HAIR, which had rehearsed over the summer. That experience taught me more than years in high school had. For one thing, I wish I had known the level of professionalism that was expected from everyone doing college theater. Lines, dances, songs are all memorized after just a few times rehearsing them, and then they are made intuitive. Intuition was never expected from us in high school and is something I wish I had been taught because once lines are intuitive and you own them, real theater starts to happen. Coming to college I wish I had more opportunities to direct and see theater from that perspective. All I've been hearing here is that directing is your best acting lesson--so why didn't I do that much in high school? Most importantly I feel like commitment in every aspect of theater is the biggest difference between high school and college, and I am very happy to see everyone after their freshman year is committed entirely to their work. Freshman year is really exciting so far, and I tried to come in with the attitude that I am going to learn something while I'm here. I know I have, and I'm working hard to keep learning something new every day.

So to anyone who is interested in going into theater, make sure you are ready to work really hard and learn a lot about yourself. You need to be ready to behave professionally all the time, and remember you are always auditioning! The amount of work you put into a show, or an audition, and your behavior in class is an audition for your faculty (learned that this year). And for God's sake, SMILE.”