Dear Babs,

I want to be an actor on Broadway or in Hollywood one day, so I’m looking at college theatre and drama programs. It seems like there are a lot of good schools in New York and California, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to make a huge move like that yet. Any advice?

Signed,
I Wanna Be Famous

Dear Famous,

New York and California are certainly where many film and theatre people live and work. And sure, there are definitely excellent undergraduate programs in theatre and film in these cities; Wagner College, New York University, USC, and UCLA to name just a few.

However, don’t believe for one second that NYC and Hollywood are the only options you have when looking for theatre and drama programs. There are many schools throughout the country with excellent programs that will prepare you well, regardless of their location.

Don’t believe me? I contacted the folks at some schools outside of NY and La-La Land and here’s what they had to say:

From Linda Essig, director of the School of Theatre and Film in the Herberger College of the Arts at Arizona State University : “I usually advise students to follow their passion. But for many students, NY or LA are mythological rather than real places. There are excellent, professionally oriented programs in theatre and/or film throughout the country.  Students should look at who is on the faculty and what their professional activities are on a national and international level.”

From Chris Roberts, Chair of the Dept. of Film, Video, and Theatre at Stevenson University (formerly Villa Julie College):  “We encourage our students to work on the films that come right here to Maryland, and also to intern at the local stations in the Baltimore/Washington, DC area. We also have many students employed at Discovery Communications in Silver Spring. There are over 50 theatres in the Baltimore/Washington,DC area, and we encourage our students to take advantage of those opportunities as well. All of our full time faculty are actively working in the field which gives our students plenty of networking opportunities.”

Ha! Take that, NY and LA!

Check this blog next week when Babs gives more tips on film and theatre programs! As always, feel free to e-mail her questions about your college search.

There are so many careers out there, it is hard to know where to start. While there are just way too many to list here, we’ll give you some general categories to bounce ideas off of and what you need to study to realize your career goals.

1. Artistic careers: These can range from sculpture and painting to dance and jewellery making. But they can also be poet, novelist or film maker—just about anything that lets you be creative. If you’re a dreamer and a free spirit, these arty careers might just be your thing. To make the dream in reality, you might consider a liberal arts college, a fine arts,  communications or English major.
2.  Medical careers: From neural surgeon to dentist to dermatologist to medical research, there are all kinds of different medical careers out there. You’ll want to take a major in biology or physiology and inquire about premed.
3. Cooking and culinary careers: We all know that food is the way to a person’s heart. So this career choice lets you combine your work and your pleasure. You are probably going to have to attend a career college if this is your appetite.
4. Banking and finance careers: If you love money, numbers and figures then bank on a banking or finance career.  Cash in with a major in finances, banking or accounting.
5. Business and accounting careers:  If you want to own your own enterprise, work in business or play with numbers, a business or accounting career just might work. You’ll probably want to go the route of majoring in marketing, business administration or accounting.
6. Legal and law-related careers: If you love to argue and debate then maybe a lawyer would make your mouth water. You might want to study pre-law but you could even do a more well-rounded liberal arts education or humanities.
7. Technical and engineering careers: This can mean anything from computers to planes, trains, automobiles, nano technology etc. You can go for a bachelor of engineering or even computer science.
8. Musical careers: If you’ve always dreamt of becoming a rock star…unfortunately there is no school of rock. But you could study music composition or general performance music.
9. Teaching careers: We all know one or two teachers that really inspired us. You might want to return the favor—not to mention if you become a teacher, you get summers off. Go for a major in the department of education.

There are tons of other careers out there, you can become a nurse, a psychologist a fligh attendant…the sky is really the limit. Check out a college course catalogue to get more ideas.

Here are two interesting resources with a comprehensive list of careers: http://www.careerplanner.com/ListOfCareers.cfm
http://www.bls.gov/k12/azlist.htm

You are probably going to spend more time in your career than you will with your husband or your wife.

This isn’t meant to depress you. It just means you should give some careful thought to what you really want to do. Think about how much time you spend on looking for an ideal mate. Imagine if you spent that much time figuring out what you want to do. 

So let’s approach choosing your career options as a journey. They don’t call it a career path for nothing.

Here are some strategies for embarking on your journey:

The first step on your journey: Think about what you’re interested in. What excites you? What bores you? What makes you tick? What types of jobs or careers interest you? If you are not sure, you can brainstorm with your guidance counselor, family and friends. They know you well and might have some ideas for you. You can also do some self-tests that can help you answer some of these questions.

The second step on your journey: Figure out what you’re good at. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What kind of skills do you have? You can start to uncover these answers by looking at what courses you succeeded at in high school and what types of optional courses you took. What kind of extra-curricular activities do you participate in? What kind of things did you learn from part-time or summer jobs?

The third step on your journey: Consider what you value in work. Is making money important to you? Do you like to be really busy or work at a slower pace? Do you like to work with people as part of a team or on your own? Do you want stability and security or do you need to always be doing something new and different? Do you want to help people? Do you want to work for yourself?

The fourth step on your journey: Explore the types of careers out there. You can get a general list of careers through your guidance counselor or they can lead you in the right direction. Then do online searches for the careers you are interested in, see what’s out there and what they entail. You can also check college resources that will tell you ‘what can I do with a major in…’ Another strategy is to visit a college career center.

The fifth step on your journey: Take a reality check. Do you want to be a doctor but failed all your physics and chemistry courses? It is important to be real with yourself and face the obstacles and figure out if you can get around them.

The sixth step on your journey: Narrow your options and choose a major that will help you realize your career path. Check out CampusCompare’s college pages to see which majors are available at your college of interest.

Keep in mind that many schools have double majors, some triple majors, and most minors as well as majors. So if you can’t commit to the career, you have ways to keep your options open.

Also, remember that  your major in college is important for your first job after graduation, but studies show that most people will change careers — yes, careers — about four or five times over the course of their lives -– and no major exists that can prepare you for that! That’s more a lesson in the path of life!