Post-Collegiate Update
As I was driving into work this morning, I realized....
It's been three years since I graduated from college.
In those three years, I've traveled to 44 states, moved twice, did my first opera, and got my equity card. In retrospect, I've done a lot of things, but in the moment I felt like I was falling behind my peers.
Why wasn't I booking a cruise ship? Why couldn't I seem to book a Disney job? Why wasn't I getting leading roles?
Right after I graduated, I expected full-blown success, and was very impatient for it.
Nothing is handed to you, and success is not only relative, but a slow building process. I still don't feel like I'm "where I want to be," but considering I had close to zero idea of how to build a career fresh out of school, I think I'm doing okay.
The hardest thing for me to accept is that I can't compare my journey to the journey of others. I'd get so upset, thinking that other people were "pulling ahead" of me, doing more shows, or getting the roles that I wanted, but I have to let it go. This is something I'm still working on, but its becoming easier.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that your life doesn't bloom the moment you graduate from college. It takes time to build networks, skills, and confidence. If you aren't where you want to be, take a look backward and look at where you've come before you feel bad about your current status.
People aren't "discovered" overnight, and Rome wasn't built in a day.
Many of the consistently working actors I know are at least five years older than me. Here's to the continuing journey...
It's been three years since I graduated from college.
In those three years, I've traveled to 44 states, moved twice, did my first opera, and got my equity card. In retrospect, I've done a lot of things, but in the moment I felt like I was falling behind my peers.
Why wasn't I booking a cruise ship? Why couldn't I seem to book a Disney job? Why wasn't I getting leading roles?
Right after I graduated, I expected full-blown success, and was very impatient for it.
Nothing is handed to you, and success is not only relative, but a slow building process. I still don't feel like I'm "where I want to be," but considering I had close to zero idea of how to build a career fresh out of school, I think I'm doing okay.
The hardest thing for me to accept is that I can't compare my journey to the journey of others. I'd get so upset, thinking that other people were "pulling ahead" of me, doing more shows, or getting the roles that I wanted, but I have to let it go. This is something I'm still working on, but its becoming easier.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that your life doesn't bloom the moment you graduate from college. It takes time to build networks, skills, and confidence. If you aren't where you want to be, take a look backward and look at where you've come before you feel bad about your current status.
People aren't "discovered" overnight, and Rome wasn't built in a day.
Many of the consistently working actors I know are at least five years older than me. Here's to the continuing journey...
This is so what I needed to hear. I just recently did a "I graduated a year ago" post, and you totally commented and were encouraging, and it's nice to see someone a little further down the line from me have the same thought process and be able to realize that you actually HAVE done quite a lot since getting that degree, even if it wasn't all perfectly packaged in a Success Box. This is the best reminder I need--to take time to calm down, not beat myself up over not having accomplished, x,y, AND z all at once, and to take the pressure off. Siiigghhh. It feels good. :-) Happy holidays!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I was inspired by your post to write this one! Happy holidays to you!
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