BWW Blog: The Community College Experience

I remember being in high school weeks before graduation and being so unsure of what I wanted to do. I knew I enjoyed theatre but I had done zero research into the college that would work best for me and in all actuality I didn't know if college was the right choice for me. Although it took me quite a while to figure it out and I may have been a little late. I came to the decision that the local community college would be the best fit for me. This is my experience at a community college while still working and successfully transferring.

After graduation I came to the decision that what really gave my life purpose was to perform so I enrolled in the performing arts program at Dutchess Community College. I quickly came to realize that my plan to focus solely on transferring and not really get involved in the program in a very in-depth way wasn't going to work out. I was starting off immediately assuming that I couldn't really get much out of the program at a community college. I couldn't have been more wrong and quickly realized that the program at Dutchess was going to require my full attention.

The faculty were motivating and constantly had new and innovative workshops and show choices. This made Dutchess a great fit for me at the time, because I was looking for a place to gain experience and confidence as a performer. What I learned from my lack of preparation going into community college is that you can't always get lucky and land in the program that is best for you. Research is your best friend and often just watching the videos on the schools website will give you a lot of information that can be useful in finding the best college for you. Going to a community college gave me the time to really give college auditions and transfer a chance. I received very diverse performance opportunities which made it very easy for me to explore my field of study and really fine tune what I wanted to go on and study further in.

The program made it easy to have an outside life as well as go to school. This gave me the much needed space I felt I needed after the overly structured high school schedule. In the performing arts field I found this particularly intriguing because I could easily be involved in other community theatre productions and performances as well as college level performance. I was not only learning about building my resume and connections but I got to actively make them and build my resume while studying the reasoning and history of the different shows and material I was encountering.

Making the choice to go to Dutchess Community college really made all the difference for my college experience. It gave me the platform to be successful not only as a student enrolled there but also in transferring and my future career. It helped me to realize what I liked in an education and what to look for in a transfer school. Ultimately community college gave me the space to explore as an artist and young adult but also the much needed guidance I was looking for in order to be successful in the college audition gauntlet.

See you next time,
Ben

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