What do I do?!

I must admit I remember feeling pretty overwhelmed when I first received all the information for the course. I wasn't even sure how to get started! I found this frustrating and stressful as I just wanted someone to tell me what to do! I've always been a grafter and I definitely give everything I do 100% effort. But a week in I realise I need to change my mindset. The most important over riding task on this course is going to be figuring it all out for myself and forming my own opinions on subject matters. My last academic qualifications were my GCSEs 10 years ago!! I was a high achieving student at school but all I've ever known when it comes to education is learning information then regurgitating it for an exam or assignment. That isn't knowledge, that's just a skill for memorising words! I knew I was good at that but this new type of learning fills me with fear. The perfectionist in me questions how I will know what to write and what if I get it totally wrong!! This got me thinking about the methods we use to measure intelligence in children at school and why many of my students come to acting class with this fear of failure. Especially in the high achieving students I teach in Singapore. This is definitely something I want to explore more during this course. This has made me dig out a book tonight that I started but never got round to finishing called 'Feel the fear and do it anyway' by Susan Jeffers. Here is the link if you want to check it out:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feel-The-Fear-And-Anyway/dp/0091907071

I also watched an incredible speech a few months ago given by JK Rowling at Harvard University graduation. The main message she wanted to get across was the importance of failing. If you haven't seen it it's definitely worth a watch! I've put the link to the video below:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wHGqp8lz36c

I'm not afraid of hard work, only the fear of getting it wrong! Instead I realise I need to just embrace the opportunity, stop worrying and trust my gut feeling. After all....