Movin' on up

So, here's the thing I didn't post about in my last entry...

About 4-6 months ago I had this recurring dream that I was kicked out of my acting class. Okay, it only happened twice, and wasn't exactly the same both times but it was very similar. I remember the first one slightly better - I went to go pay for class and person in the office tells me I'm being kicked out of class. They tell me they're starting a new basic level class and they think I should take it and I'm being moved into the remedial class. Downgraded. But I still have to go to my normal class that night and start the new class later, and since I've paid for a full session the office person gives me a $110 refund. Then after hearing all that I have to go to my class, and it's already started and there's a bunch of people I don't know in there and I have to be in that class even though I know I've been demoted.

After the second dream I actually started to panic. Was I doing horrible in class? But I eventurally realized why it was happening. I was having the dream whenever I had to pay for a new session of class. It was just the anxiety of having to pay again working it's way into my subconscious. Still I was worried that I was doing horrible in class, but at least I knew why I was having this dream. And then I never had it again.

So last week I needed to pay for a new round of class. The office person calls to remind me that I have to pay. Then they're like, can you come a little earlier than usual so your teacher and I can talk to you?

Huh? What? That's very odd, especially since I just had my end of session evaluation the previous week (I'll post more about that later) so everything should've been talked about then. I start wondering what they could want. I start running down a list of possibilities.

Something popped into my mind - my first gut reaction thought. But I was like, no...that's not possible...not now...maybe in a few months...but not now. I tried to push the thought out of my mind and didn't even WANT to think about it because I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment and it just seemed like a very long shot. BUT in a weird way it was the thing that would make the most sense why they wanted to talk to me.

So I tried to come up with some more realistic possibilities:

1. Something's messed up with my payment. Possible, but my last check cleared and they couldn't have waited this long to tell me if there was a problem. Maybe they're going to tell me I've been in the class so long they're giving me a discount from now on! Would be nice, but highly doubtful. Or a chance to get a discounted class for doing some sort of work-study. Hmmm, not completely impossible, but again, highly doubtful.

2. They wanted me to do something for another class that I took last year that I still have the tape from - maybe they're trying to gather copies from past students to show as examples to the new class. That makes sense. Or they want prior students to help out with something - that happened once before and I helped out with something in a class.

3. They're going to tell me to leave class. They're going to tell me I've been there too long and I'm not going to get anything more out of it so I'm wasting my time. OMG! It's the dream! I start to panic a little. Okay, I supposed this isn't out of the question, but seems very unlikely especially since I just had a decent evaluation and a talk with my teacher about my recent breakthrough and improvements, and a few weeks ago we had a huge discussion in class about the importance of staying in class.

4. They want me to switch to a class on a different night. Maybe the night I go is getting too full. Or, they're getting a bunch of new people so they're changing things up and creating "levels" and putting the people who have been there awhile into one class that's a little more advanced than what the newbies get. Both of these are entirely possible - they've mixed things up before. If it's a situation where they just want me to switch nights I'd have to say it would be really hard for me to do that, but if it's a situation where they're putting the people who are slightly further along into a class then I'd do it.

5. They're going to tell me I need to take one of the other classes they offer. This could be possible for a reason I'll get into later.

I decided the most logical explanation would be they either want me to help out with something or switch to another class. For some reason switching to another class kept popping back into my mind.

Or that first thing that I haven't mentioned yet. The think I was trying so hard to push out of my mind but kept creeping back in.

So I got there about 15 minutes early. At this point I'm like, what could they possibly want? I had my evaluation last week.

I went to the office, the office person gets my teacher, who tells me to come have a talk in the classroom. Teacher sits me down and starts saying how they're changing the classes up. AHA! I was right! Then they start telling me how they're splitting the master class into two different sections - one for comedy and one for drama because it wasn't working having both in the same class and switching back and forth. OMG, is this going where I think it's going? Then my teacher says they want to move me into one of the master classes and asks me if I want to do it.

OMG! OMG! This was the thought that I was trying to hard not to think about! But it was right! I'm moving into the master class!

Of course I say yes!

My teacher then goes on to tell me the reasons I'm being moved into the class - mostly because of the length of time I've been in the class and I get what's going on, and it just happened to be around the time of this recent breakthrough I had. They also tell me that it's going to be a lot of fun.

Then we have to go through all the logistics of the schedule, payment, etc. It's on a different type of schedule than the class I'm in now - it's not really on-going like the class I'm in now and you just pay cycle to cycle depending on when you paid last - it has a set start and end date, it's a longer period of time...and it's more expensive. My teacher told me that upfront. Not only more expensive because I have to pay for more weeks at once, but if you break it down, each class is more expensive. Oof! But I said it was okay - I mean, I couldn't say no. One more thing - the class doesn't start for about another month. That means I have to stay in my current class for nearly a full session, and pay for it.

So my teacher sends me to talk to the office person about it. So freakin' confusing. I have to pay for part of a session, and I also find out I have to put a deposit down for the new class...and not a $50 deposit to hold my place type of deal...the cost of half the class, which is about the same price of a full session of the class I'm in now. So between paying for the partial session and a deposit on the new class it cost me almost as much as the class itself. Ouch. Handing over my credit card was painful. But I know in the end it all evens out, and I have money coming in from my tax refund and that student gig I'm (still) waiting to get paid for. But it was still painful. But it's all good.

Wow. So that's it. I'm leaving my class and moving into the master class. Wow! I'm a little surprised it happened now - I mean I know I've improved greatly in the past few months, but I thought they'd want to wait to see if I kept it up before moving me into the new class. I also thought I didn't take some of the necessary prerequisite classes to be in the master class, but I guess they're changing that too. But I'm really, really happy about this. What I'm hearing is that the place where I take class is one of THE places casting director look for on a resume, so I'm hoping this looks good on my resume...oh, and I'm sure it will be challenging, a ton of fun, and I'll keep getting better. The excitement has worn off a little bit because I've known for over a week, but I'm anxious to start! I feel like I'm a senior in high school, already got accepted into college, but has one more semester of high school and just want to start college.

Is it going to be weird going from being one of the veterans in class to a newbie? I don't know. Will I be starting over? I don't know. I'm trying not to think of it as starting over. I know people who got moved into the master class so I'm wondering if they're still there. I probably know a bunch of people in there. And my teacher said there were other people in my current class who were going to be in the class. Hmm. I wonder who. There's only one or two others I can think of who have been there as long as me or longer. There are a couple of other possibilities. The other day I was a little nervous about this class, but the thing that's getting rid of that anxiety is that you have to be moved into the class - obviously they think I'm good enough to be in that class.

Okay, now I'm excited about it again! I can't wait!