This weekend for me was one of labor. The Frantals had me over to help build some shelves. It seemed like it would have been easier going if we had some different drivers, but all-in-all, I would call it a success. The larger two of the four units we had planned are up and functioning. The shelves are damned sturdy in construction and should last them a good long while.
\n
\nAs I understand it, not much of sentimental value was lost. Mostly books, which can always be replaced. Since this is a journal and not to be edited or judged, I am learning to ignore sentence fragments like that one. It is difficult, but I am coping. I can chalk it up to style, right?<\/p>\n
There are auditions this Sunday for RSVP theater’s upcoming season and a meeting with the burgeoning community theater at the South Milwaukee PAC. Also, plans for me to teach private stage combat lessons for a community in Racine seem to be moving forward rapidly. I find that when I am not active in theater, I don’t notice how much time is passing between events.<\/p>\n
Then again, it was less than a month ago that I closed Carousel<\/i> and it seems like forever. I need to be diligent in my pursuit of these things. Time is my enemy. If my goal is to be a professional before age 35, I have a great deal of work ahead of me, not the least of which is securing a degree.<\/p>\n
Until recently, I had held that higher learning \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and its proof by way of important-looking pieces of paper \u00e2\u20ac\u201d was a prerequisite for a full life. Lately, I have been reconsidering that stance. Higher education is, in itself, reward; to that principle I still cleave. Its necessity is more dubious, particularly in light of experience.<\/p>\n
Most professional theater types with whom I have spoken on the subject all sort of joke at the importance, or lack thereof, a degree really holds. The education and experience that do hold sway can be gained through less conventional means. No one would deny that they learned things, but the piece of paper would mainly be helpful to secure an educational position, rather than in the business itself.<\/p>\n
Combine that with the sense of politics underlying the university system as it stands and one is left to wonder if a trailblazing ambition might serve better. That is, I can make my own way. One barrier to that philosophy remains: a degree is necessary in order to secure the rank of Certified Teacher with the SAFD. Granted, a case might be made for equivalent experience, but that sort of exception would smack of a compromising of principles that I would not wish on the organization.<\/p>\n
Notably, many employers have noted to me that a degree in one’s field is helpful, but far from necessary. Instead, it represents a certain perseverance and ethic, so a degree in any field speaks of the person’s dedication. I want to have that piece of paper for that purpose at least. I know that going back to the academic world after so long away is bound to have a strong positive influence on my more experienced mind, as well.<\/p>\n
Maybe I should just print this up with my application letter. It seems to express my concerns about my life path. Without too much ego, I think that I at least appear to be a bright fellow, even an educated one, despite not having completed my junior year of college. I can hold a conversation with my highly educated friends and colleagues and only occasionally feel tiny-brained. I do respect their surperior education and defer to them always. But, I consider myself as intelligent as they are. Perhaps that’s a mistake and I will understand that better when I have completed a degree.<\/p>\n
In theater? Probably not. Although I have much to learn about acting and theater, I think I would rather study something with a little more academic punch, namely Literature. It is a related field, but one that I think carries a certain pipe-smoking, jacket-wearing pomp than Theater would. While I know that perception may be mine alone and that it is a poor way to choose one’s major, it will hardly be the worst mistake I have made in my life.<\/p>\n
Right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This weekend for me was one of labor. The Frantals had me over to help build some shelves. It seemed like it would have been easier going if we had some different drivers, but all-in-all, I would call it a success. The larger two of the four units we had planned are up and functioning. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s73iP8-building","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}