Hannah Elsy, 25 January 2014

This discussion called into question the value of the academic degree and what it

means for someone who is on the brink of working in the theatre industry to be

studying full time. In terms of studying a course at an academic university, there was a

clear distinction drawn between studying at a campus university, where several

students from Exeter expressed their frustrations at being at a Campus University and

therefore finding it challenging to step outside of ‘The University Bubble’, as it was

termed. There were several people in the circle who had not been to University and

those who had done several degrees (and perhaps were theatre academics). All views

and experiences were welcomed. The value of having free rehearsal space and using

the University as a platform for scratching new ideas was generally supported.

However, it was agreed that tuition fees were still too high. Ultimately, no solution was

reached as to understanding which route- academic or otherwise was the ‘better’

solution, but surely that depends upon several factors such as where you are wanting

to get to career- wise and how self- motivated you are. Personally, I took away from

the discussion that it down to you having the ‘right’ attitude that was a better

determinate of a career path than is studying at a particular institution. There is no one

solution.

Tags:

drama school, money, loans, Motivation, Carreer, Universitiy, Reality, Fees, Loans,

Drama School, fees, Money, reality