7 Tips to Make Back to School a Success (You Won’t Believe #5…You know what, you probably will).

1. Do your work. Do it well. Do it without complaining. I don’t care if you love it or like it or find it useful or meaningless. Didn’t get the role you wanted? Sorry – do your work. Don’t like this class or this lecture or this assignment or this professor? Aww, poor baby – do your work. And do it well. Ask yourself, would Michelle Obama be proud of me for the work I just did? Learn how to do good work. It is the most valuable skill you can develop. You know who gets jobs? People who do good work. You know who gets hired again? People who do good work and are easy to work with.
2. Recognize not everything you do or learn is going to be important in your life (also recognize there’s really no way for you to be able to tell the difference right now). But you need to learn how to balance your priorities with your drama, that is going to be important in your life. Wait, take a step back, first recognize what is a priority and what is your bullshit. Then balance them (preferably with priorities ahead of bullshit).
3. Speaking of priorities and doing good work…learn how to say no. Are you directing a project at the end of November? Then you aren’t doing the November mainstage show (see above about doing good work). Reassess your goals for the coming year – what tangible actionable things are you doing right now to make them a reality? Be intentional.
4. Care as much about your grade now as you will in December.
5. Control what you can control. Show up on time (early is better). Be prepared. Be focused. Be generous. Be kind. Back up your files. Get some sleep. Eat right. Stop trying to control things you can’t control.
6. Block out time to do the things you want to do. Want to be a writer? Then spend 15 minutes every day…wait for it…writing. Want to be better at auditioning? Spend 15 minutes every day doing cold readings. Start seriously looking for monologues that fit you…then actually learn them and practice them. I hate to break it to you, but you are not too busy (see #2).
7. Have Fun. Risk Failure. Be Nice.
8. Bonus Tip! from Jeanette Fotis: Assume every note given in rehearsal applies to you. Even if you aren’t called out personally. That’s someone being nice by not calling you out personally. Don’t make them call you out personally by thinking the note is not for you. The note is for you.

This was first published in DomiNews - The August Domino Players Newsletter