Speaking My Mind

I wrote this for the new Department Chair in my Program. It may seem a little harsh, but it's been a rough three years. Has it not?

Being a Theatre B.A. at Brooklyn College
By E.Iguana

I transfered to Brooklyn College three years ago with all intents and purpose to be a Theatre B.A. I didn’t want to be a Theatre B.F.A. I find this important to state first because it would show that there is no resentment to a program that I landed in because I was rejected from the other. I transfered from Pratt Institute, where I was a Computer Graphics major, so I was entering from a private college into a CUNY School. Though there is Bureaucracy in both schools, they have both been vastly different.

The lack of Academic Adviser was a big shock when I first came to this school. The Chair of the Department should not be the Academic Adviser! A personal example would be that in my three years of being here I have had Rose _____, Tom ______, Christina _______ and now you (Laura _______) as my “Academic Adviser.” I haven’t had a moment where I felt like anyone necessarily cared if I graduated or how I am doing in my progression through the program.

The lack of Academic Adviser really shocked my roommate who is a recent alumni of the SUNY University of Buffalo in the Musical Theatre Program. She told me that one of her Godsends was having an Academic Adviser who was a resource for her classes and degree progression.

My only response to my roommate is that I have to keep track of my classes and am never sure if I am on the right path. Especially since the Theatre B.A. requirements changed (My Degree Progress is my only “form” of Academic Adviser and it too changed with the new requirements). Since finding this out I haven’t been sure if I am close to graduating or not. Last semester I planned my schedule out for this year before I realized the degree progress I’d been using had changed. Since no one in our department informed me that this was happening, I almost took several classes that I didn’t need to graduate.

Additional to all of this, whenever I did need to see the Chair for permissions, I found it incredibly difficult. I have always believed that a professor posts office hours for the students, so they know when they should visit. Never once in my three years here has the Department Chair ever been “free” during their office hours. They were in meetings with other professors or not there at all. Not to mention that when time for scheduling for the next semester came around I could clearly see the list Rose _______ posted on her door for the B.F.A. students to meet with her for permissions. I often wondered why this way of conducting business was never passed onto the B.A. students.

I was going to bring up the Theatre B.A. requirement classes, but I think with the new requirements you have addressed some of theses issues. My only wish is that I had had the chance to focus more on a particular field. I realized recently I am interested in Costumes, but since I was required only to take two classes of it, it seems to have ended there. Not to mention that despite taking four drafting classes (Stagecraft, Scenographic Techniques, Scenic Design and Lighting Design) I still have come to the conclusion that designing sets and lights will never be for me.

I know that the program strives to expose us the several options of career paths in the theatre. However, students should be given the option to focus on a specific concentration after taking intro classes. The B.F.A. students obviously focus on acting, why can’t I pick a path I enjoy and go further with that?

In the last three years whenever anyone asks me what I want to do, my only answer has been: I don’t know. This was not for lack of effort on my part, I just felt like the vastly diverse classes weren’t helping me to narrow down my decision.

I hope that these issues can be dealt with because they are fixable, but important for any student’s well being in college. I have met students who are going on their 5th year without ever taking a break! Though their issues are their own, I just believe that being a B.A. student does not mean you have to be put to the back burner. The last three years Brooklyn College has shown me that perhaps that has been the case. I thank you for giving me a chance to speak my mind and hope this can be of some help.