Last week I had to make the horrible decision of whether I was going to take my deferred place at Manchester Met for the Contemporary Theatre and Performance course. Now for years all I had ever wanted to do was act or at least to be involved with the arts in some way.
I was completing my Drama and Theatre Studies A-level, and decided that I was going to audition for several uni's and I would definitely get in (lol). However, at an average of £50 for an audition, and then several other expenses on top of that, it was never going to be as easy as I'd hoped. At a guess, just like me, you are wondering why are they so expensive? Well that's because of people wasting the interviewer's time, cuts to the arts departments and just generally acting is such a hard and expensive career to pursue.
So with Manchester being my favourite city, I know there is a permanent grey cloud over it but that doesn't put me off, that was going to be where I auditioned for. I had never felt nerves like it when I entered for that audition. Unfortunately I am someone that leaves everything till the last moment, and I struggled with Shakespeare anyway, but when you'd only just learnt the monologue the night before, boy did I struggle; I froze, I forgot my lines, I think I even forgot the character's name at one point. So when I left it was quite clear to say I hadn't got in.
But then I was sent an email 2 weeks later saying I had a call back but for a different course, I was over the moon, I didn't care what it was for; it was one step closer to being at uni studying the subject that I am most passionate about. When I went for this second audition, it was at the Crewe campus, which is about 45 minutes away from Manchester; I wasn't sure how I felt moving back to a town after being in Nottingham for 2 years.
The audition went great, it was all improvisation, but when the lecturer and current students were explaining what the course was about; I wasn't hooked like I wanted to be and how I would have felt if I'd been on the straight Acting course. So again another 2-3 weeks later and I was offered a place on this course, but as I said before its 45 minutes away from Manchester. I was so happy to have been given the opportunity but wasn't sure whether it was something I truly wanted, with the of cost living and uni fees, you're going to be coming out with like 40-50 thousand pounds worth of debt, for a course I'm not sure on?
So I got the letter through from Manchester Met, asking whether I was taking my deferred place, it took me 3 weeks to send that letter back; because even though I didn't want to do it, that idea of going to university was going to be gone too. When you make that decision, you honestly have to think about it properly and not just go on a whim. When I'd sent the letter back, I was guttered, had I made the right decision? But the answer is yes, I have. For me, I have the opportunity to go travelling, to work, to move out and most importantly not have that debt looming over me for the majority of my life.
Questions to ask yourself before applying/accepting an offer:
- is this what you want?
- Do you properly understand the course you have picked?
- Do you understand the financial implications uni has?
- Don't take second best, in university's and courses
- Have you thought of the other things you could do instead? i.e. apprenticeships, jobs
Here are some interesting read, from actress Julie Walters:
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jan/23/julie-walters-lack-working-class-actors-sad
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/9515821/Julie-Walters-warns-of-future-where-only-posh-can-afford-to-act.html
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