A New Perspective on Higher Education

By: Maria Eduarda Tarre

Coming from Brazil, where the educational system is very systematic and full of heavy-material courses, I must say that taking an acting course at SFC was one of the most challenging and at the same time life-changing things I have experienced while at school. 

The school system in Brazil is formulated with the ultimate goal to make kids pass the National Exam of Education once they are 18 years old. This exam, formally known as ENEM, is a two-day process with 180 questions and an essay which tests the lessons these kids have learned throughout their entire academic life. Therefore, during elementary and high school, there is not much space left for classes that exercise creativity or public speaking, for instance. 

Sadly enough, the same happens at university level. Growing up in this system made me believe that classes like public speaking or yoga were more like a waste of time and they would not add anything to my professional and career life. Therefore, this Fall semester, when I had to take an acting class, I was horrified that I would spend 4 hours of my day for what I considered to be nothing.

During my first few weeks, Acting and Voice I, the acting course I had to take on, annoyed me. Just the thought of leaving my house early in the morning to take a class that would not provide any knowledge to me felt like a real punishment. However, weeks passed and I must say I started to see some value in the class. 

I was able to have a little bit of fun while also learning to canalize my feelings and emotions into the life of the characters I played. Acting became a way of testing out different versions of my personality and connecting with different people who had similar interests. Having those 4 hours per week just to run away from my reality was more gratifying than I ever thought.

This Summer, I had an internship at Nickelodeon where I noticed that most of the tasks, I was required to do had nothing to do with what I had learned back at school. This experience and my acting class made me look at higher education through a different perspective: most likely, you won’t become the most experienced professional right after school, but you may become the most experienced version of yourself at that moment.