to be or not to be...
Thursday, Jul. 10, 2003

Excerpt from a letter received very recently -

"Dear Ms. M,

Congratulations! I am very pleased to inform you that the USC School of Theatre would like to offer you admission into the Theatre Arts Minor Program."

Yay!
I'm in! I'm in!

The theatre and I have always had a good relationship with each other. I used to write and direct [co-direct, mostly, I directed one autonomously and it flopped big time] plays in high school. I spent a large portion of my meager allowance on pricy theatre tickets. A bigger portion of my time was spent looking up plays and playwrights.

And here I am readying myself to join the masses as another instrument in the technical workforce.
Bluergh.

How did I get here?

Right after high school I was offered two choices; each would lead me down a path completely different from the other. I had a choice to either

1)study medicine in the United Kingdom, or
2)complete an engineering course in the United States.

Choices, choices.
I remember chatting with a friend through instant messenger about which option I should pick. It was very, very late into the night, plus I was high on caffeine, so I took his advice; I tossed a coin. It came up tails, and here I am in the City of Angels, trying to make sense of All-American logic.

It was Fate that put me here, in this Land of the Freedom Fries.

*snicker*

All puns aside, I'm glad the toss turned out the way it did. The United States' policy on education is "Diversity or Die!".
Well, it's not quite so guerilla-like, but you get the idea.
They make you learn things you would never have considered knowing about [Yanamamo Indians, anyone? How about an in-depth study on Greek mythology?]. Here in the States I can schedule my education to balance practicality with passion.
Not too shabby a deal, ey?

So while I design quake-proof, fire-proof, flash flood-proof, high-rise constructions, I'd still be able to recite Shakey and have a hand at theatre production.

It's also going to be twice the workload.

Hmm...