For most of us, leaving school or college and heading off to university is a natural progression. We see ourselves leaving a world that can make us feel restricted and tied down, into one that allows us to do whatever we want. University is the ultimate freedom. Not only can we live alone; we also have more choices around how we spend our time. We have the chance to make new friends, join societies or sports teams and maybe even find some paid work to do alongside our degrees. The world truly is our oyster. However, this is not the case for all of us who make the jump to higher education. There are some groups of students who may feel like they have only graduated to a more grandiose version of school. In this case I am talking about acting school students.
Beyond the fact that aspiring actors attend an establishment described as a ‘school’ rather than a ‘university’ there are other indicators that show differences between the two. The amount of time students spend in class, the size of the establishments and the way the courses are graded are just a few of the examples of why acting students may not feel like they are truly living the university experience. I wanted to understand this further. Luckily my good friend Meg is currently attending acting school in London and was more than happy to share her thoughts with me.
‘Like I’m in school’
When asked the question, Meg stated that she felt ‘the contact hours, the face-to-face teaching and the fact our days are scheduled around three to four lessons makes it feel like I’m in school’. The time-consuming element of acting school makes it far more reflective of school and college, it would seem. But there were further factors Meg was keen to highlight when differentiating between acting school and university. One of which was the lack of the so-called ‘university experience’.
‘There are fewer societies and less time for social activities because the course is intense,’ she said. ‘There is a reason people refer to it as drama school. If you go, you go to train. You don’t go for the university experience’.
‘Eye-opening’
I found it interesting that acting schools themselves seem to want to shy away from being seen as universities. The longer hours and less extra-curricular activities highlighted this for me in particular. So I was curious to ask Meg whether she felt she was missing out, or perhaps not enjoying this time in her life as much as some of her friends at university. In fact, she was keen to state that this interpretation couldn’t be further from the truth and that she considered acting school ‘a different kind of eye-opening, freeing and amazing experience’. Certainly not seeing the longer days and less social time as a bad thing. I suppose if you love what you do that much, it really doesn’t feel like work.
So in answer to my question, yes. Acting students most certainly do feel like they are at school. In fact, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say that acting schools and universities are worlds apart. Yet, what was reassuring to hear is that, despite these differences, acting students love what they do so much that this really doesn’t matter. The chance to train as an aspiring performer is all the motivation these students need as they attempt to reach the top.
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