for love or for money.
this entry will be written in third person. any or all advice is appreciated.
hazel has recently graduated from college with a degree in theater. at the time she thought she wanted to be either an arts reporter or theater director.
after trying to go to the marketing/pr route for the arts, she realized she wanted to do something a little more creative, with room for some level of autonomy.
so she signed up for an editorial internship at a local daily newspaper, moved, and realized she needed to find another part-time job to support herself since the editorial internship paid approx $100 a month.
after applying for a month + and not hearing back from anything worth pursuing, she ended up landing a really great job, albeit an administrative job, working for a chorus. the people she works with are wonderful, and although she's the admin, she has a lot of responsibility which she enjoys. then again, she also makes a ton of mistakes, because she's just not talented at that sort of work.
meanwhile, back in the fall, she decided to look at the season of a local major regional theater company and see what shows they were doing this year, in hopes of possibly assistant directing one of them. she has always been interested in contemporary work, so the 'world premiere' in red letters above one play in the press release stood out.
the play, by caryl churchill, sounded wildly fascinating and the subject matter was right up her alley.
then she noticed that the director was coming into town for this project. she primarily works in the city she just left... well, left in june, when she graduated...
after a little research, she found out that i've seen one of her productions before, and she really liked it. she also found out that this woman happens to be head of one of the most prestigious mfa directing programs in the country.
she sent her an e-mail and she sent the theater company an e-mail asking about the possibility of observing or assisting her on this show. months went by and she heard nothing.
this was back before she had a real job and was more than willing to leave her former internship for an opportunity to work as a director of sorts -
of course now, a month into settling into financial stability (at $1200 a month after tax in the bay area, she's not sure if what she's making counts as financial stability, but anyway...), she receives an e-mail from the theater company asking if she's still available and interested in working on the show.
yes, she thinks.
reality check - after two months of searching for a job, she says to herself, you've finally found one. and you like the people you work with. and you can actually pay your rent and pay for gas and car insurance and some food. all on basically working 20 paid hours per week. quitting this job would be a dumb move, right? not to mention that she really doesn't want to let down the woman in charge of this organization, because it feels like there is level of shared respect there and that this is more than just a job, even though ultimately she acknowledges that it is - just a job.
but now she wonders what she really wants to do with her life. does she want to pursue a career in directing? if she does, not taking this opportunity would be a poor decision. does she want to be a journalist? well, she loves many aspects of journalism, but she is concerned that after years upon years of writing about other creatively interesting and influential people, she will regret never having been one of those people.
does she quit her job in order to take this two month assistant position, and make a whole lot of people unhappy and her piggy bank making faces like
?
i'm
and i don't know what to do.
-hazel
this entry will be written in third person. any or all advice is appreciated.
hazel has recently graduated from college with a degree in theater. at the time she thought she wanted to be either an arts reporter or theater director.
after trying to go to the marketing/pr route for the arts, she realized she wanted to do something a little more creative, with room for some level of autonomy.
so she signed up for an editorial internship at a local daily newspaper, moved, and realized she needed to find another part-time job to support herself since the editorial internship paid approx $100 a month.
after applying for a month + and not hearing back from anything worth pursuing, she ended up landing a really great job, albeit an administrative job, working for a chorus. the people she works with are wonderful, and although she's the admin, she has a lot of responsibility which she enjoys. then again, she also makes a ton of mistakes, because she's just not talented at that sort of work.
meanwhile, back in the fall, she decided to look at the season of a local major regional theater company and see what shows they were doing this year, in hopes of possibly assistant directing one of them. she has always been interested in contemporary work, so the 'world premiere' in red letters above one play in the press release stood out.
the play, by caryl churchill, sounded wildly fascinating and the subject matter was right up her alley.
then she noticed that the director was coming into town for this project. she primarily works in the city she just left... well, left in june, when she graduated...
after a little research, she found out that i've seen one of her productions before, and she really liked it. she also found out that this woman happens to be head of one of the most prestigious mfa directing programs in the country.
she sent her an e-mail and she sent the theater company an e-mail asking about the possibility of observing or assisting her on this show. months went by and she heard nothing.
this was back before she had a real job and was more than willing to leave her former internship for an opportunity to work as a director of sorts -
of course now, a month into settling into financial stability (at $1200 a month after tax in the bay area, she's not sure if what she's making counts as financial stability, but anyway...), she receives an e-mail from the theater company asking if she's still available and interested in working on the show.
yes, she thinks.
reality check - after two months of searching for a job, she says to herself, you've finally found one. and you like the people you work with. and you can actually pay your rent and pay for gas and car insurance and some food. all on basically working 20 paid hours per week. quitting this job would be a dumb move, right? not to mention that she really doesn't want to let down the woman in charge of this organization, because it feels like there is level of shared respect there and that this is more than just a job, even though ultimately she acknowledges that it is - just a job.
but now she wonders what she really wants to do with her life. does she want to pursue a career in directing? if she does, not taking this opportunity would be a poor decision. does she want to be a journalist? well, she loves many aspects of journalism, but she is concerned that after years upon years of writing about other creatively interesting and influential people, she will regret never having been one of those people.
does she quit her job in order to take this two month assistant position, and make a whole lot of people unhappy and her piggy bank making faces like
?
i'm
and i don't know what to do.
-hazel
VIEW 15 of 15 COMMENTS
Dreams are dreams because they are unreachable and intangible. If you could reach them they would be goals. What is your Goal in life? Which option would bering you closer to that Goal?
Good luck babe!