<p>This is an update to my novella, [“The</a> Process”](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1676940-the-process-our-year-plus-long-odyssey-getting-into-a-musical-theatre-program-p1.html]"The”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1676940-the-process-our-year-plus-long-odyssey-getting-into-a-musical-theatre-program-p1.html), which details our 16-month journey with the MT college application process. Read on if you must, but the only drama you might encounter is the impluse you might have to throw-up after ingesting my syrupy-sweet, confirmation-biased observations, and #soblessed comments. </p>
<p>While the incoming MT and Acting freshman do reach out to each other in social media during the summer, when they get on campus they are instantly absorbed into a circle of comrades. Not orientation-buddies whose names they will forget by Thanksgiving. Not classmates they might recognize later as paths are crossed on the Quad. Not floor mates in a dorm celebrating new-found independence. These kids are confederates on a very unique path, and they are instantly part of 150’ish performers with purpose in everything they do. They support each other by being each others’ biggest fans. (I warned you - #soblessed)</p>
<p>Ithaca has both formal and informal programs in place to create this atmosphere of comraderie. The most obvious is a mentor program with seniors assigned to freshman to counsel and advise. Don’t think sitting across a table from each other reviewing class schedules, think pictures of kids with their arms drapped around shoulders with hashtags of #mylittleisthebest and #lovemybig. Their first weekend after school started included a trip of 55 kids riding a bus the school chartered into Canada to see a show. Later images are posted on Facebook picturing 14 kids having breakfast at someone’s off-campus house or 25 kids mugging for the camera in front of a campus landmark before the Fall Formal.</p>
<p>If your performer likes their after-school voice coach lessons, then they will love a BFA program. If they ask for scripts from various plays for birthday/Christmas/Hanukkah/Festivus, they will love a BFA program. Rather do script analysis than play video games? You get the idea (though don’t get me wrong - we have quite the video game library in the basement). </p>
<p>Son’s roommate is a fellow-MT’er. They get along great. His senior mentor (aka “Big Sis”) treated him like…wait for it…a younger brother. Even better…a younger brother that she likes. No…a younger brother she didn’t know she had until recently when her mom revealed who her biological father really was…and deep down she always knew there was a missing link in her life. I’m think I’m turning something sweet into a train wreck. Seriously, I think they will be friends forever. By November he knew who he wanted to live off-campus with for next fall.</p>
<p>For fall break (school is shut down for a Thursday/Friday in mid-October) he and three other guys went to NYC to see the sights and a couple of shows. The weekend prior when our son informed us of his plans our response was, “Good for you.” When he sent us a picture of the metro card he purchased the reaction pivoted to [think fly-over state parental-panic, not excited], “My precious child is in NEW YORK CITY, getting lost on the subway, and I don’t know where he is sleeping tonight!” When a fellow-parent posted on Facebook how many fresh-made chocolate chip cookies the four lads consumed, we were back to, “Good for you.” </p>
<p>Phone calls typically ended with, “I’m really enjoying this chat, but I have a few guys waiting for me so I need to go.” We prempted the official family weekend by flying in early-October and had a great time. We got him home for all of Thanksgiving week, and three weeks from now he’ll be home for a month for the winter break. We put him on the plane today (the Saturday after Thanksgiving), which was a day early because he had things to do and people to see (oops, another #soblessed comment).</p>
<p>While Catherine Weidner, director of the MT program, went into great detail about Ithaca’s student review process during Unifieds, it didn’t hit me until this fall that…wait, what? They’ve cut kids from their program?! Yep, it has happened though it’s not an arbitrary numbers game like Emerson used to do. Put another way, the kids are competing against themselves and not each other. If your performer loses their passion or won’t take instruction, then IC will help them consider other opportunities. It’s with this as a backdrop that I asked my son if this is something he worries about, and his response was, “Nah.” Fair enough, that’s his bucket of water to carry not mine.</p>
<p>Brief word about the faculty (though when have I ever been brief?). One of the comments son shared with me is early on is they very much want all the kids to succeed. They are demanding but fair. Fair as in during the review process they all weigh-in on the performer’s…well, performance. Not being the right fit with one particular teacher is not going to unduly penalize them. They are generous with their time, talent, and advice (#soblessed comment #3 if you’re keeping score at home).</p>
<p>During audition season we had IC pegged as a strong-Acting program which appealed to son. We now know better why that is. From an instruction stand-point Acting and MT are all taught acting by the same twelve instructors. While this hasn’t occurred to my thespian, another parent’s daughter is regularly asked by a professor if she is an Acting or MT major which delights her. They train together, do scenes together…you get the idea. It’s one thing to dance well and/or to sing well. Being a very good actor while doing one/both of these things is what separates the sheep from the goats.</p>
<p>Speaking of other parents, the parents of IC performing arts students have created a closed Facebook group for just the parents. While my son doesn’t understand what we would talk about in this group (“Dad, it’s time to get a life.”), it’s been a great forum to share logistical details and moral support. For a great many of us, this is the first child going off to college, and it is a huge relief to have folks that were in our shoes just 12 months ago to lift the fog that surrounded us during the audition process. Other programs have a similar arrangement whether they are managed by the schools or run independently (admittedly I like that ours is independent). It is a great source of support, and if the program your child attends doesn’t have one then create it yourself. #bethechange</p>
<p>As I wrote at the beginning, I got no drama for you on these updates. Also there are no “what could have been’s”. If fact, there are more than a few “so glad it worked out this way’s” (though I hate, hate, hate “it was meant to be”). Given the cost of attending Ithaca College I also refuse to write, “We’re lucky he was accepted to school there.” I have no problem writing, “HE’S lucky, damn lucky, he’s going to school there.”</p>
<p>Speaking of luck, best of luck to the parents over these next five months. And to your kids - break a leg. If it’s not Ithaca College, I hope your child finds what we found - a nurturing and challenging environment that facilitates a lot of fun college memories, but has them ready to be a working performer in the world of Acting and MT. #soblessed</p>