Being Accepted

[mjriley]

Hi Everyone

I am 13 and consider myself a member of tech team by my school and am accepted as the best lighting guy by all of the team but two people who are not in charge but do not accept me as a tech.

They mainly do props and other mundane jobs but are older and intimidating.

I am not allowed to help in a production next week because they hate me and say that I don't know what I'm doing when I clearly do.

 

Any advice.

[Jerome]

Just remember this... People take themselves everywhere they go and always will. Keep cool, talk to the right people involved. We can hardly sort out bullying issues on here if thats what you want. Chin up, do the job when it comes, it will one day :(

[nothingatall666]

we cant sort this problem really, im not saying its fair or right. but there will be a teacher involved with all the tech drama side of things.

talk to them... tell them your issues and they will have a legal obligation to investigate (got to love the law sometimes)

 

just try not to be over keen. cause you'll start interfering with other peoples jobs. and if they're like every other teenager, they wont like it.

 

of course if they simply don't have enough work for you to do then accept it. soon people will leave and this will allow for more people to be required.

[Ynot]

Any advice.

Simple advice...

 

Take a DEEP breath.

Remember that you ARE after all just 13, with MANY years ahead of you.

Regardless of how much talent and experience you believe that you have, you are (and I use the word here reservedly) only a student.

If you've read many of the NG posts here, you'll realise that the adult world puts surprisingly little store in titles for students at school who regard themselves as 'top' or 'head' technician, for very valid reasons.

 

So - take that breath and move on.

[GridGirl]

I second what Ynot has said. Don't talk yourself up - it's not about who is the "best" lighting guy - or at least it shouldn't be. Go to the drama teacher (or whoever is in charge of the production) and let them know that you'd like to be involved with the production on the technical side - but don't moan about the others who won't let you, don't even mention it. Put your head down, do your job to the best of your ability and remember that at 13, you have a lot still to learn!

[heinz57]

I have been in a simaler situation. I got singled out by fellow students at college because of my good work in the technical department.

 

And there is one thing I can say - they're jelous. Because you are years younger than them and doing a better job than they are!

 

But don't let it get to you, keep your head held high!

 

And if they continue to bother you, consider having a quiet word with a member of staff.

 

:(

[Ynot]

At the risk of turning this into a teen-bashing (which to be frank is not the intent) I have to say that progress in this business (as indeed with ANY business) has an awful lot to do with attitude.

The right attitude can take you to many mmore places than you might hope for.

The wrong attitude can close doors quicker than you can blink - regardless of how good you are (or in fact think you are...)

 

Whether you realise it or not, Heinz, this...

And there is one thing I can say - they're jelous. Because you are years younger than them and doing a better job than they are!

could well be deemed to be the wrong approach.

Who decides whether you, or anyone else, is better than or knows more than your peers or those older than you?

Because to be brutal, you may find that taking a single step into the 'real' world, be it a good quality amateur operation or a pro theatre would show just how little both groups actually know!

 

To restate my advice - suck it up, work hard, don't try to run before you can crawl, and above all recognise that in reality all you can do as a school tech IS crawl in comparison to the rest of the world. Experience doesn't come easy - or cheap. It has to be worked for, and learned from those with more experience than you have.

 

We all learn, every day.

I was told by a teacher of mine (about a hundred years or so ago) that every day where you don't learn anything is a total waste of everyone's time. And that's very true.

[The Gaffa]

Hate to say this, but that's life.

 

As others have said, take a deep breath and look on the bright side, there's more to life than one missed show.

[Joe Bleasdale]

Hi Everyone

I am 13 and consider myself a member of tech team by my school and am accepted as the best lighting guy by all of the team but two people who are not in charge but do not accept me as a tech.

They mainly do props and other mundane jobs but are older and intimidating.

I am not allowed to help in a production next week because they hate me and say that I don't know what I'm doing when I clearly do.

 

Any advice.

 

Join the club. You just have to get on with it and aim high. Know exactly where you want to go and do, if that makes sense.

[Bobbsy]

I think a general comment I'd like to make is that, all too often, people learning their craft measure their skills by their ability to operate equipment.

 

This is all well and good, but as you move into a wider world you will realise that the "button pushing" part of the job is just chapter one. Much more important is what you do with the lights...or the sound system...or whatever discipline interests you. Other people are far more likely to judge you by results than because you are best at programming a board or making moving lights waggle.

 

I'll take this one step farther and say that the other important skill for a lighting designer is the ability to work with other people, notably the director and the rest of the production team. As an LD it is your job to interpret the director's vision for the show. You will be judged on a mixture of how easy it is to work with you and on the results you achieve.

 

Being blunt, making statements that you're the be best at something is not a good way to "win friends and influence people" and it can be an attitude like that which causes people to choose not to use you or work with you. It must always be remembered that the best theatre is a collaborative effort. Technical skills, as important as they are, often play second fiddle to "people" skills. The best people have both.

 

Bob

[mark_s]

I think Bobbsy has just said everything that I was thinking on the subject, however I'd like to go one step further and suggest that perhaps this thread highlights those members who people may wish not to employ. Theatre is a team effort, and those approaching it with the attitude of 'I'm the best' invariably don't have the right attitude. For a start, how do you quantify 'best'? It's just idle boasting by people who want to make themselves feel bigger or more important.

 

I personally wouldn't want to work with someone with that attitude, regardless of how good they actually were.

[Ynot]

I'll take this one step farther and say that the other important skill for a lighting designer is the ability to work with other people, notable the director and the rest of the production team. As an LD it is your job to interpret the director's vision for the show. You will be judged on a mixture of how easy it is to work with you and on the results you achieve.

 

Being blunt, making statements that you're the be best at something is not a good way to "win friends and influence people" and it can be an attitude like that which causes people to choose not to use you or work with you.

Bob

Precisely.

And another unfortunate reply to this thread is

I am considered best out of all high schools in my area.

Honestly that is also the sort of attitude that rankles.

'Best' in the local high schools isn't really a particularly high benchmark to be aiming at!

 

Aim to be the best that you can possibly be yourself at any given time. That personal best will improve (slowly) but that improvement should be reward enough for now.

Don't compare yourself to others or even compete. Life's too short, even at your age! :(

 

They wouldnt have had demo MAC 250s & scrollers and a new desk if it wasnt for me.

Another unfortunate statement.

If you read a lot of the BR topics you'll know where the majority of us are regarding 'toys for schools' as the rule. Whoop-de-doo your school got some toys, either on loan or hire or whatever. But unless the school understands the import of basic lighting etc (including after you have moved on) then those toys are an expensive waste!

[berry120]

Am I sensing a correlation here? Now I'm really not meaning to attack anyone personally here, I'm just trying to get a point across. But in the 3 posts so far from those that are saying they've been in a similar situation, you all seem to consider yourself at least good:

Join the club. I am considered best out of all high schools in my area.

I have been in a simaler situation. I got singled out by fellow students at college because of my good work in the technical department.

I am 13 and consider myself a member of tech team by my school and am accepted as the best lighting guy And there is one thing I can say - they're jelous. Because you are years younger than them and doing a better job than they are!

 

Then following on with what Ynot said:

 

The wrong attitude can close doors quicker than you can blink - regardless of how good you are (or in fact think you are...)

 

This in my mind sums it up - when I was involved in training younger members of the school on the technical side of things, there would invariably be those students that "knew it all" and were "the best for miles around" and "didn't need any training" and wanted to do x y and z show because they've "done it all already", "dealt with much more complicated setups than this one" and "could do a far better job than anyone else". At the same time, a lot of these same students were making comments like "I hate this crappy pearl, I've used eurolight consoles in the past and they're much more standard", "I've never heard of kt, what's with these crappy eq's, couldn't we have some decent ones", and even "what's the point of a mute button, everyone knows you just turn the fader down if you don't want any sound coming out..."

 

In contrast, others took the "ok I don't know everything at all, I know a couple of basic bits but I want to learn more, teach me!" attitude. They didn't butt in with stupid comments, asked sensible questions, and regularly showed an interest in turning up to training sessions.

 

So when it came to choosing people to help with shows / concerts that were going on, what group do you think was chosen, and what group specifically excluded? Yes, one or two of them did moan to staff. Unfortunately for them, we'd already had words with who was behaving / paying attention and who wasn't, so it didn't help them one bit. In contrast one of the guys that came with a very keen interest in things in year 7 is now in my mind probably the best lighting guy in the school, and he's only in year 9. But he doesn't go around saying he's the best and he's still keen to learn whatever else might come his way.

 

I'm not saying everyone who claims that they're good at something isn't, and I'm not saying you should dumb yourself down and pretend to be ignorant. But if you are good at something, come at it with the right attitude. Saying "I'm the best person around you're lucky to have me give me a show to work on" or something similar REALLY won't go down well in anyone's books. If you then go over in a corner to sulk because "everyone's jealous" and go around complaining as such, that's going to shut more and more doors too - however good you might actually be. Instead, coming and saying "Hi, I was interested in being involved in x show on the technical side, I've done x y and z in places before but I'm keen to learn more and wonder if I could be of any use?" would, if it was up to me, probably mean that you'd be involved. But if not as people have said - it's not the end of the world, you're only in school and it's a single show - there will be plenty more that come your way!

[mjriley]

Thanks all for your inspiring comments.

I will take these on board and see what is in store for me.

As many of you have said I am only 13 and have many years ahead of me.

After this year we will be very short of techs and in need of more.

 

Thanks All.

[tokm]

I'm slightly confused.. If theyre not in charge, not (in your view) proper techs, but are simply older.. How can they be excluding you from working on the show?

 

Surely if your liked by the other techs and just as importantly, the person in charge (be it a senior student or member of staff).. Whats stopping you from doing the call's they're all doing and being around during show time?

 

Also, describing someones work as 'mundane' isn't the best way to make friends is it.. Just because you don't like it for whatever reason or because its not LX/Sound/etc, doesn't mean its a 'lower' type of work. Have they ever heard you express that point of view? If so, perhaps that could be why they don't like you!

 

As everyone's said.. its about attitude just as much, if not more (specially in school situations), as it is about what you know. Suck it up.. you'll get to be involved, or in charge or whatever you want, as much as you like next year by the sounds of it :(.

 

T