The teachers were great, the teaching was done very well for what was being taught. I only too the basic courses, which were overall fun but at the same time, I don't remember much about them and what I did in them - either they were not memorable or I...
The teachers were great, the teaching was done very well for what was being taught. I only too the basic courses, which were overall fun but at the same time, I don't remember much about them and what I did in them - either they were not memorable or I blocked out a lot of it, or wasn't focused enough during it, which leaves me with an afterthought of meh. I only participated in one year, however, as a large part of the blame goes to the way the program was split. Instead of Drama students being able to select whichever classes matched with their schedule, we were forced into these two blocks.
Essentially, there were going to be two sets of classes - Class A and Class B. Class A had all the same classes together, and Class B had all of the same classes together. Class B students never had a single class with Class A students - I'm not sure if in the next year the blocks would have been mixed up to give me some students I worked with in year 2 and some new ones I was familiar with only through the two classes connecting in the halls socially, creating a Drama friends group where we dined and partied together. However, this class structure is practiced more than here, and it is horrible, as it not only limits the people you can work and interact with, but it also leaves you stuck with individuals you would rather not work with.
I was set to be in a separate class from this one individual, however, a last minute class change in a program I was minoring in put me in the same class as this one individual. He was someone I used to get along with, and used to be very close to in the first half of first year, but things had turned for the worse, I made a very poor choice, and it saw us in a rather difficult situation. He played hot and cold, mostly trying to avoid me but every once in a while caving in and suddenly becoming friendly for a day before going back to cold and avoidant. Well, starting the program with him, we had one such good day early on, and the rest of the time he was completely avoidant of me. I'm not sure if he spoke to the teachers about it because we were somehow not put into any scenes or work together despite there only being 14 people in class, going down to 12 after two people dropped out. So while that was a relief, it still was not when we'd have to share the space together, stand in circles together, essentially having to constantly see each other despite him wanting to never see me again and me wishing he would at least be civil despite the past. I never wanted more than that, but any time he suddenly tried, he took it too far, and then it went back to square 1 again and an increased discomfort.
Well, eventually it got to be too much with me, especially with situations outside the classroom getting worse, and long story short I ended up getting anxiety attacks in class, had to often skip my second Acting class of the day just to protect my mental wellness and take a break from having to see him, and due to the lack of support in the Accessibility services, they recommended I simply drop out instead of finding alternative solutions for me to continue in a different program, or perhaps separate us from being together in the program again. Missing a set number of classes in this program starts to reduce your grade to the point where you can fail simply for not attending enough classes. Well, in Voice I managed to get a grade for it, however, my teacher told me if I didn't complete my last assignment I would effectively fail (I needed a 70% to move forward) and failing one class would result in me being unable to continue with the other classes. The stress was so great on me at the time that I had to forfeit, letting go of my ability to continue in the program and I effectively dropped out of the University of Toronto.
Had there been more support and recognition of this tension between me and my classmate, and had there been a better scheduling system where we'd have the opportunity to work with all our classmates in two separate classes - mixing up each class so I could only have one or two classes with this guy while having other classes where he would be in the other class - I believe I would have successfully been able to move forward in the program despite my personal issues at the time. I strongly believe I wouldn't have ended up abandoning my work in Voice or Drama History class and making it through classes with him as there would have been less of him to have to see or deal with. I would have been able to continue in the program if there was more support around keeping us properly apart, and had Accessibility Services been more accommodating and helpful to me through my personal dilemma, they would have possibly gotten me some career counselling assistance and guidance, even if it took me outside the Drama program, and I could have ended up with a degree today. But now I end up without one and really regretting ever going into this program. Had I taken something more useful, taken a different path than the one I did, I wouldn't have ended up where I had with no degree, and no desire or money to return back to University.
