So here's my thought and experience. I went to school to get a BS in
Theatre Tech with a focus on lighting. Prior to college I had taken 2 years of
theatre tech at high school and helped with a few shows at the local
theatre.
College was almost all design work and a little
bit of
stage work. I had a class on color theory, lighting design,
etc. All great for those who don't really have much knowledge, but all things I covered in basic high school classes and
community theatre. Everyone was designated a show for the semester, whether you were a ME, AME, LD,
ALD. Any of those four positions were always "above" everyone else. You did the design work, whether it be lighting design or executing the hang and cabling. In those positions, you did no physical work. All of the other lighting students were then the "grunt" workers and were often times talked down to as if we didn't sit through the same courses.
During my first summer, I returned to work a couple shows at the local
theatre. Upon my
return for my second year, I quickly realized I was learning more valuable knowledge during summer/at my local
theatre, than I was at college. This is when I made the decision to cut out early,
shift my focus, and graduate with an AA. I then returned home, worked in my father's warehouse, and went back to volunteering for the local
community theatre. Within 6 months, I was offered a paid, contracted tech position from the
theatre company for their year of shows. Quickly after that, the
theatre themselves offered me a part-time
stage hand position (load-ins/load-outs for big touring gigs, running spots, flyman,
etc.). A year later, staff within the
theatre were transitioning and I was approached to apply for the
role of Assistant Technical Director. I then in turn received the job, and I've been here ever sense.
I am the
house LD, ME,
ATD,
etc. I never look back and regret my decision of leaving college. I simply wasn't learning what I went there to learn. I was learning how to analyze plays, how to look at a color wheel, and how to boss people around. I barely learned any technical aspects in my two years, and hardly got any applicable "design" knowledge. All of my skills were learned via
community theatre volunteering and part-time
stage labor, pushing cases around. I have since flourished and have, on a few occasions, tried to be poached via touring crews to go on the
road with them. The only credit I give towards my college experience was the piece of paper that allowed me this job.