I will always talk about how I am a theater major. I absolutely love it, although there are a ton of misconceptions that other students and the public assume about theater majors.
1. Theater majors/minors don’t get homework — lies, lies, lies.
Theater majors and minors actually get a ton of homework. In fact, a lot of our classes double up as reading or writing intensive classes because of how much we do. If you didn’t know, at least in my classes, you could end up writing 3 to 5 papers a week just for your theater classes. On top of that, we train like athletes. No we don’t run back and forth but we train just as long as an athlete does. Just like an athlete, we have to practice on our own time as well. Then, for our midterms, finals and even tests, we have scenes we have to have memorized, blocked and ready to perform. It is so stressful as a theater person because you have your theater classes on top of your regular classes and then on top of that you have rehearsal. If that wasn’t already enough, a lot of us also have jobs in order to make a living. Theater majors and minors are extremely hard workers, just remember that.
2. Theater majors/minors are weird — yes, but no.
Theater majors simply just have a different energy or level of energy than the average person. I know some of us are just focused individuals, but we are not bad people. Just say “hi,” and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. This is also just a warning, remember theater majors and minors are taught to act, so you really have to pay attention to when they are acting and when they aren’t. Sometimes its just all blurred into one.
3. Theater majors/minors think they are better than everyone — this is not true at all.
We are all college students trying to make it into the industry we want to be in. We are humble and if we are not one day, I can promise you we will be humbled in our next theater class. We actually really like hanging out with our theater family, but you need a break from family. This is especially when we see each other every single day for hours on end, we like to see a difference. We like to listen and interact with someone who does what we could never do.
4. All theater majors/minors do is memorize lines — yes, but no.
We will always be memorizing lines because it’s for a class or a show, but this is not all we do. We still have science classes, math homework or even French homework. We also make TikTok’s, we play pranks and we are some of the most emotional people on the earth. We do so much, you just only see us doing one thing.
5. Theater majors/minors have no hobbies — once again, another lie.
I have never seen someone spread themselves more thin than a theater major (and nursing majors), but again, this is from my experience. Back to theater majors though, we start our own clubs, have our own bands, play on sports teams, join fraternities and sororities, are members of the speech team, we are tour guides, we even have a Spider-Man crew that was started by a theater major. As you can see, we do a lot.
6. All theater majors/minors are extroverts — this is one of the biggest lies I’ve heard about us.
A lot of Theater majors and minors act, and we act really well. It is literally what we are taught, but that doesn’t mean we all like to be outside. Some of us still prefer to just read a book alone in our room. Some of us will talk your ear off but others are just going to listen to you. There are some of us who are introverted people, but they can act extroverted just when they are acting. It’s interesting, but we are not all extroverted.
7. We are not intellectuals, just artists — please don’t say anything like this, we are both.
We are extremely intelligent, but our minds are more creative and that makes us artistic. Our craft is what makes us artistic, not the fact that this is all we know. You can come up to me and ask about programming and I am going to tell you, I don’t know but I know someone who does. On the other hand, you can come up to me and ask me how to do a math problem or a criminology question and I’d be able to at least give you my take on it. I am a well-rounded person — just like every theater person in the world. We also have to be mentally strong in order to do what we do because we live in someone else’s mind all the time.
These are just seven misconceptions that other college students and the public have about theater majors and minors. A lot of them aren’t true and are extremely surprising. Maybe the next time you run into a person who does theater, ask them questions, see what else they do. I guarantee they will prove at least five of these wrong.
Also, be on the lookout for my Black History Month article, coming soon!