This time of year brings some unsetteling news. In the month of March, seniors are receiving letter after letter – or more correctly e-mail after e-mail letting them know if they have been selected or rejected for this or that or perhaps none at all. I am rather stumped at this idea of getting this information via an e-mail that arrives on your phone in seconds. I want to chide all of these seniors for not staying off the phones. I want them to stay on task, but, admittedly, if I were in their shoes I would likely being taking “bathroom trips” ten times a class period just to get the update. Back in my day it was a much kinder and gentler process. You got this letter in the mail – a letter actually made of paper – and when you got the letter in your hand you knew your fate before you even opened the envelope. Everyone knew the mantra, “Thick letter equals good news. Thin letter equals bad news.” Here is proof that the good ol’ days were much “gooder” than today.
I do have one late flower that I am worried about. This young man loves the theatre so much – and he doesn’t love just the footlights and applause. He loves the hard work, the academics, the painful waits, the endless often purposeless rehearsals, even the pop quiz on a Tuesday. He loves this work – and as is true for boys of his age he has certainly embraced a new maturity that is often not handed out to high school boys until the summer of their junior year. He is ready. He is willing. He is able. He rolled the dice. He sent off his applications. He worked up the money to head off to NYC for the audition. He waited. He really waited – – but the “fat letter” has not arrived. I approached him thinking that he was going to need some encouragement to keep fighting the good fight. But encouragement was not needed. He gets this game. He knows that this rejection is exactly what he is commiting his life to – “no” is going to be the leading word in his vocabulary. There are some students that you know are going to be okay. You are not sure what their path is – but you know that they will be okay. I have always told my students that the great roles out there are not even going to be possible until you are 40 or 50. If you can stick it out until then you will have NO problem. He WILL stick it out till then. He will reap what he has sown albeit a harvest a few days later.
3 comments on “Late Flowers”
What a bittersweet post. It’s gratifying to read about this young man who is already so dedicated and ready to do whatever it takes. But it’s sad to think that he’ll have to get used to so much rejection. All I can say is that if he hangs in there, I believe his time will come and he’ll reap the benefits.
I also appreciate your empathy for young people and the many changes they have to go through to get their start in life. I’m sure that even though your encouragement wasn’t necessary, it was appreciated.
I feel for the guy. I used to be in high school theater, but confess it was for the fun and the required elective and (let’s face it) the chick magnet aspect of it. None of my reasons were noble. But I was never all that talented. It was good way to spend class time, but I never really cared all that much about getting the part.
So it’s kind of sad to hear about someone who is talented and has to wait and wait and wait for some kind of recognition from NYC. And he’ll have to go to audition after audition and face a lot of competition. Something tells me that he’ll rank higher than 95% of the other guys, though, as they’re just doing it for the chicks and the applause.
Aw, that is so sad! I hope this kid finds his way. I always worry about teenagers who want to go into the arts. Will they make it? Will they starve?
(My God, I think I’m turning into my mother! LOL)
But, he’ll survive. Like the rest of us, he’ll watch and learn and take the good with the bad and make the most of it somehow. I think that people with a passion do well if they don’t expect everyone else to have the same kind of passion. This student seems more level-headed than that. And he’ll do well.
He’s lucky he has you for a teacher.