Author Topic: Early HS Graduation  (Read 6719 times)

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Kastle

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Early HS Graduation
« on: Sep 22, 2011, 07:26 pm »
I am currently in my junior year of high school, but I have enough credits and the GPA to graduate with honors at the top of my class a year early.   Up until last year, I've been very interested in science and wanted to pursue that as a career,  since I saw stage management as a hobby.  However, in a discussion with my wonderful TD and his wife, I realized that I would rather make a career out of my hobby, and though it'll doubtlessly be stressful at times, I'd enjoy my work much more.

My question is this: Has anyone here graduated from high school early to go straight into a college stage management (or theatre in general) program? If so, what college did you go to? Did you feel like it gave you an advantage or disadvantage of any kind?

ScooterSM

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Re: Early HS Graduation
« Reply #1 on: Sep 22, 2011, 09:31 pm »
I graduated from high school a year early and went to the University of Northern Colorado to get a degree in directing.  There were both pluses and minuses.  It was hard personally to graduate before all of my friends (many of whom I had gone to school with since kindergarten), but the trade off of going to a school where I could take classes that were really interesting, and where no one knew me and I wasn't in the shadow of an academically successful older sibling made a huge difference in my confidence.
Professionally it was both good and bad.  I was working while many of my friends were still in school, so I was able to get a lot of experience early on, however, it meant that I was frequently the youngest person on a SM team.  I had to work extra hard to be respected (particularly with older stage hands), and it took a long time for me to be comfortable supervising people who where sometimes three times my age.
Overall, it was one of the best decisions that I have ever made for myself, but it was an intensely personal and tough choice.  (It did involve petitioning the school board, so if you decide to do it, start early to make sure all the ducks are in a row). 
Ultimately, only you will be able to decide if it is right for you.  If you have specific questions, please feel free to PM me.  Good luck!!
“I've never been paid a lot, but the theatre has kept me, and for that I shall be eternally grateful.” Tony Church

Caroline Naveen

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Re: Early HS Graduation
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2013, 10:27 pm »
I'd say go for it! Although I do agree with ScooterSM it has to be your choice. I'm currently a junior also and am thinking about graduating early too but another alternative might be to try to gain some more experience in the professional field before going to school shadowing and what not so that you can optimize your learning opportunities in college. Because then you can learn how the real world works and then go figure out some technics to make it run smoother...that's what I'm thinking about doing but I'm not sure lol. Break a leg!

 

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