BWW Blog: Casey McGuire - The Balance of School and Theatre

Recently I received my final report card and was horrified at what I saw. The first grade on it was a big, fat, B and it was just staring me right in the face (I know what you're thinking, "A B! That's a good grade! Why would you be upset over that?"), but that "B" was because I participated in theatre. Sure, I still passed and my GPA didn't drop that much, but what about in more extreme cases, where should the line be drawn? Is it okay for a student to receive a D and still get to be the lead in the next school show? Should they even get to be in the next show? They still passed. What about an F? Should students be rewarded for their achievements in theatre if they aren't meeting the standard marks to graduate? As performers and technicians we need to be responsible for our grades and commitments to theatre.

So how can we do this without being entirely stressed out? Here are some tips to help you out

1. Stay organized- Keep your school stuff in color separated folders so you know what class is what and keep your homework separated from notes. Also keep your theatre stuff (i.e. scripts, notes, drawing, etc.) in a separate binder.

2. Use every minute you can- This is for school work and theatre stuff! You have no ideas how many times I was driving and just started doing my monologues or hooked my phone up and listened to myself perform them. And why not study trigonometry in the 10 minutes between class and rehearsal???

3. Have a plan- If you have school until 3:30 then rehearsal till 6:30 use your time after to do homework! I know it is hard to fit in everything like what's that ting called?? Oh yeah eating! But seriously if you plan out your nights after rehearsal, you'll be able get more done in short periods of time.

4. Meet deadlines! - I cannot stress this enough! Teachers understand we're busy they really do, but it's their job to teach us responsibilities and asking for extensions on deadlines or turning in late work teaches us nothing and shows them we can't manage our time! I know how stressful things can get but try to ask for extensions as little as possible!!

5. DON'T STRESS OUT!!!- This is the hardest one for me! It's hard not to stress out when you have three papers due and need to be off book on the same day, but keep calm and know everything will work out! Focus on what you can do instead of what you can't!

These are just a few of the things you can do to help achieve greatness in both! Theatre is an amazing activity for high schoolers and in some cases an outstanding career for people, but we also need to keep in mind our responsibilities as students. There is nothing worse than having an outstanding opening night only for your calculus teacher to see you after the show and ask why you can memorize an entire script and blocking but not turn in your assignments on time.

One of the most important things to remember is, don't give up! Keep going and even if you fall behind just know you have to work twice as hard to catch up. Honor your commitments to theatre and if you're taking a really challenging course it may mean you need to sit out show and there's nothing wrong with that! Don't commit to a role you can't handle with school too! Ask your peers and teachers for help! Be responsible and stay on task! Feel free to comment how you keep your grades up during a show and how you manage your time!

Sincerely

Casey McGuire

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