Being a Theater Major

Observation #3


Being a Theater Major

Its a strange thing with theater that once you become involved you either get completely sucked in or you immediately know its not your cup of tea. It is an exciting feeling to know that all the work you are putting into a show will eventually be seen by hundreds of people. To be in theater for a long time means to love theater and it is very hard to lose that connection once you are there an experiencing everything theater has to offer.
I have spoken to a few students within the theater program who started in other majors but once they started to get more involved with the shows here they decided to change their majors to Theater.
Edward Marks, a junior majoring in English has been participating in plays since his freshman year. He will be props manager on the next musical Ruthless and will be playing second detective in Stop Kiss. Recently he told me that he is thinking about switching his major to something in the Theater arts and has found that being an English major isn't letting him fulfill his love for the stage.
“I think that I could be better in theater than continue with my English major any further” said Marks when I was questioning him.
Other students however couldn't handle all the commitments of being a Theater major and being in other groups and programs. Elizabeth (last name removed) had been a theater major for a couple years but eventually decided that it wasn't for here. She became a residents assistant and could not keep up with the shows and still be as involved in the sorority she was in.
Theater is a high paced and even higher stress environment to be in. Every now and then you will find that you want to explode from everything piling up. It takes a unique type of person to want to be fully immersed in this world and enjoy performing in front of hundreds of strangers. For the people who find themselves sucked in its life that they cannot do with out. Being away from theater for too long makes you miss it even more, whether you were on stage or behind the scenes. It is a universal family that all loves doing the same thing, entertaining.