Learn to Copywrite

I’ve dreamt about this just about every day for 6 years–that’s about 25% of my life already. I want to be the first founder of a performing arts high school in my country. I actually write down details about what the school would look like, what the school’s philosophy would be like, the school’s corporate identity and culture, what kind of teachers will be teaching there, what kind of students will it attract, what alumni and ex students will grow to become, what facilities will be available, side enterprises it will give students and teachers the opportunity to participate in, and other businesses (the media, scholarship bodies, tertiary education institutes, theatre and dance companies, record labels, production houses, NGOs, the government…)

Now, the past 6 years of my life had also been a tough one… unwise choices concerning my study (mostly due to ignorance and lack of guidance), disappointment, studies fell apart, separated from parents by the continent since my mid teens only to return home in my early twenties totally failing my plans, and nervous breakdown. However, since my decision to restart college at 22, my studies have seen success, and so have my emotional health and stability.

I’m now a junior (third year) student of a bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts Communication–not at a Conservatoire but at a Public Relations school. It’s a new program so we get to be the guinea pigs for raw communication management classes copied from its PR and Mass Communication majors, supplemented by singing, acting, directing, and production classes. However, this campus has not adequately taught us the value of the longsuffering, painstaking mentality that’s required of professional performers, nor has it equipped us with the proper theory and techniques. So yes, I can sing a bit, act a bit, direct a bit, and all that, but am by no means qualified to practice performing arts professionally.

The reason why I chose this college was because it was close to home, promised to dig deeper into disciplines I learnt from my previous majors (business, advertising, politics & culture, philosophy) from a performing arts perspective, seemed gave me a second chance to try my potential in a field I had to give up in high school due to circumstances, and was the perfect opportunity to heal myself from the nervous breakdown by proving that I can study something for four years successfully. But obviously my second and third expectations from the list above has been somewhat disappointed.

I didn’t study Education per se, because being the teacher is not my goal. However, now that this dream is maturing, I’m more open to the possibility of going into it. But with so many specialisations in the Education field, which one should I take?

My goal is to raise the capital, design the curriculum, define the corporate identity and culture, devise the business plan, and train qualified performing arts (and other) teachers to educate adolescents in our values. That’s why I studied all the other things before (although they were arguably ill-advised choices that didn’t lead me any closer to this dream).

And of course, once I graduate from here, I plan to practice performing arts (singing and acting) by joining a good quality theatre company (truly professional ones don’t exist in my country as none have been successful in raising profits on their own, so that means I’ll still need a day job in addition to this). I currently work translating mining feasibility studies into English–which I like, do well in, and earn good money from–but that’s because I have bills to pay now… not that I intend to spend all my life making this into my career.

Alright, so that’s my situation. Any advice from people who have been involved in the founding and running of a successful school? If I should study again after getting my bachelor’s degree in "Performing Arts Communication", what should I study, and where? What jobs should I look into, which I might qualify for and will be useful in preparing me to eventually action the establishment of the school? What kind of friends should I have around me, and what kind of mentors should I seek?

(I live in the industrialised capital of a developing Southeast Asian country. In the past I have aimed at TV broadcasting and copywriting for brand development/advertising as fields to start working in.)

Thank you!

If it itches scratch it.

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