Pros and Cons of higher education

Pros and cons of higher education
Pros
By going into higher education you develop and enhance your skills as you do as you go through education. One of the key skills that you should come out with when you leave Higher Education is Time Management; especially if you are balancing a personal life, HE life and part-time work. Time Management is key and these skills should have developed from secondary school all the way to Higher Education.While getting your degree you will put these skills into practice and after graduating you can use these skills in further employment. Time management is slightly different between university and drama school but it is still the same principals.For example knowing how to set a timetable, meet deadlines as well as staying healthy.



Another Pro of attending Higher education is that it increases your earning potential as you may get some workplaces which won't accept your application if you don’t have a degree. I had a brief interview with Michelle Duberry who previously worked at Google headquarters. She mentioned that “You won't be able to get a job at Google unless you have a degree, your degree could be in fashion and you could get hired to be an engineer manager as long as you have one you past the first stage.” But I dont believe this is the case anymore as after researching I came across the glass-door website where they mentioned on August 14th 2018 that workplaces such as Google and Bank Of America “ do not require a college diploma for some of their top jobs.” This makes me question people who dream to work in these type of business won’t bother to go to higher education to get a degree because now it is no longer a necessity.



One major factor to going to higher education is to network; meet new friends especially people who want to work in the same field as you. There are a few stories about actors who went to drama school or even university together. For example, Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke who both starred in Black Panther, they both attending Yale drama university together. In fact, Lupita Nyong’o showed Winston Duke around the Yale campus and both watched a Marvel film together, not knowing they would star in the next one together. Another example of this is Taraji P. Henson and Anthony Anderson both attended Howard University together even though they have only been in one film together which was hustle and flow in 2005 they are quite familiar with each other work. Even if you might not be the next Hollywood stars together in a marvel. Working with each other for 3-4 years you begin to understand each other weaknesses and strengths even though you have to work with each other professionally you may begin to make true friendships with people who you would like to work with in the future this might be creating your own work such as film and theatre scripts or creating a drama company together.



One of the vital experiences by going to higher education is gaining experience by living by yourself. If you didn't go to any kind of boarding school attending higher education might be the first actual experience with living by yourself. This may be very daunting at first but this will become handy when you leave higher education as now you will have key skills when moving out on your own. This links in with time management after you going to your lecture your responsible to do your work in your own time. On the other hand drama schools in London are not residential so you would have to live at home or if you live really far from the drama school you attend to then you would have to find accommodation for yourself. Which means you might consider getting a job to pay for where your living.



Lastly, a pro to going to higher education is getting a degree at the end of it. This is quite obvious but this is a major achievement in life especially knowing that all that hard work has not gone to waste and you have finally graduated. Only accredited drama schools such as Mountview and Italia Conti you will get a degree but then it’s up to your personal opinion whether you would like to get a degree out of the end of your training or you only want to attend drama school for the learning.




On the other hand of the argument higher education is very expensive with  Britain being number nine in the ranking of “The 11 most expensive countries for a university education” On an average tuition is £9,000 per year, this could be higher or lower depending on what course you do and what institution you go to. But this debt can be very off-putting to some people as they may not want to attend higher education because of this. Yes, there are finicial aid’s and scholarships to help people to not be discouraged but like many things, there is a huge amount of requirements. For example, “open door” which is a “ non-profit organisation that helps talented young people who do not have the financial support or resources to gain a place at one of the UK’s leading drama schools.” One of there requirements is that you have to be 18-25. This seems a bit odd as you generally you apply to drama school when you are 17 turning 18; unless you took a gap year or stayed an extra year at college or sixth form. So I would not be able to get to apply to open door because of this. Other financial aids and scholarships are not accessible with people whose parents earn above a certain salary even though higher education tuition is still a lot.



A large number of actors did not attend any type of higher education and still became successful. According to IMDB famous actors such as Tom Cruise who is known for films such as mission impossible and rain didn't attend drama school his first appearance was a bit part in the 1981 film Endless Love. This was then followed by a major supporting role in the film taps. 15 years later he starred in the film mission imposssible which he produced. Cameron Diaz is another actor known for charlie’s angels and Shrek, did not go to a drama school. in fact Cameron Diaz did start her career in the same field as Diaz signed a modelling contract with Elite Model Management at age 16 and appeared in advertisements for Calvin Klein and Levi's. When she was 21 Diaz auditioned for the jazz singer but got the lead role instead after being cast she started to take acting classes immediately. Some people do believe quite strongly that attending drama school is a waste of time for example Paul Roseby told a “told a conference that most actors wouldn't benefit from three years of vocational training and would be better served with more focus on how to sell themselves in the industry.” He recommends that you train every once in a while and three years training is pointless. He goes on by saying “You don't need to learn how to act, you need to learn how to sell yourself. You can either act or you can't." This was quite hard-hitting for people as they believe that acting just like riding a bike can be taught, with practice you can get better and if you dont practice it you will lose the skill.
To conclude I do believe drama school is essential to receive the fundamentals skills to become a great actor. You can imagine it in a way as if your acting career is a wall that needs painting and drama school is a toolbox of different brushes after the 3-4 years you can decide with brushes you need and dont need. But you would have never known the right ones for you if you dont attend drama school. As there is only so much you can learn on set.

























https://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/curr-students/ugrads-after-degree-folder/ugrads-trans-skills.
https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/no-degree-required/
https://www.thisisinsider.com/celebrities-who-went-to-college-together-2018-4#lupita-nyongo-and-winston-duke-yale-1
https://www.biography.com/people/lupita-nyongo-21465383
https://actinginlondon.co.uk/drama-school-vs-university-for-acting/#
https://cdmt.org.uk/accredited-schools-and-colleges/drama-and-acting
http://uk.businessinsider.com/expert-market-11-countries-where-parents-spend-the-most-money-on-university-tuition-fees-2015-10/#10-singapore-2
http://www.actbrighton.org/funding_sources.php
https://www.opendoor.org.uk/about/
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls027968240/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameron_Diaz