I have always really loved school and learning. I made sure to take the best classes, get the best grades and planned my entire high school career on getting into the school of my dreams. Then I fell in love with dance. My perfectly curated plan flipped upside down and my plans changed. Since freshman year, I took every honors class, every AP class, extra math classes, extra spanish classes and extracurriculars to be the perfect candidate for The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. I wanted to double major in Pre-Law and Mathematics. After I attended a Summer Dance Intensive right before my senior year, I ended up switching gears and committed to a new dream school and went on to earn my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a concentration in Ballet.
Having this degree and working as a full-time ballet dancer while working numerous side jobs to pay the bills created a very interesting dichotomy. As a dancer, I felt old and kind of like an outcast having gone to college when most of my coworkers skipped that route and went straight into companies. While in my side jobs, I felt undervalued because it was actually incredibly difficult to get sustainable or substantial jobs because my degree was in dance and when I did find minimal work, my coworkers felt like I didn’t have a “real” degree. But for someone who has always valued my worth and intelligence, this was so challenging to never feel valued in either facet of my life.
So when I transitioned from dancing professionally to teaching full-time, I decided to go back to school and get a “real” degree. I thought this would boost my chances of finding more meaningful work outside of dance and perhaps increase my chances of finding leadership roles in the dance world. I went on to receive a Master of Education in Organizational Leadership and Communication. I did find a great job and relocated but I don’t have a leadership role. I have continued to apply to jobs outside of dance and even applied to professor positions to teach Education, Leadership or Dance in Higher Ed and I haven’t found anything.
I turned to Higher Ed and a Postgraduate Degree to climb up the ladder when in reality the best way to find work is to work. The skills and experiences my Masters program provided me were fantastic and I wouldn’t change those for the world. It’s not your degree that will get you work or make you successful, it’s YOU. And I bet you already have what it takes.
By Sean Daly