Experience verses Qualifications...what am I about to get myself into!

Time for another blog I think, we need something more constructive than an extended argument I think. Enough of that. Onto my newest Blog. We got our VTAC guides this week, for those playing at home I'm a year 12 student heavily interested in theatre and drama in general. I create my own plays and see them through to a produced, final state. I enjoy writing plays, directing plays, producing plays and acting in plays. I don't mind dabbling in design (I'm no artist though, but it's fun). I like experimentig with different theatre styles (usually done within the safety of a drama class or in a video state instead of live theatre). This means I don't mind dabbling in puppetry, non-naturalism and absurdism as well as other forms of theatre like this, and alternative performance spaces. I believe theatre has the power to make people think, as well as be a form of entertainment. And I don't mind being part of both these worlds. Do I think it can be a career- yes. What do I mean by career? Well I don't want to be a celebrity. That is one thing far from my list of to-do's. In the future I would like to be an owner of a venue that offers performance spaces for up-and-coming writers, producers, directors, actors, designers and techies to experiment, create work and get feedback, but also gives me the chance to experiment with my own work. I want to be able to help that group of people my age who want to experiment in theatre like I do, because I know personally the challenges involved...and it's not easy. I never grew up in a performance family- although many of cousins have/still do perform in music, theatre and other things like this- so my interest in theatre and performing has come through school and the people I associate with. I've loved every minute of theatre I've been part of, and I want to pursue it. So...back to that VTAC guide...do I select my courses that I want to do and then see them through and come out fully qualified? Or do I decide not to go to uni and keep working in the field, making my own work, working with others and gaining experience that way. Do I take a year off, get some experience, then go to uni? Do I take a few years off, get experience and go for something even bigger like NIDA? There are a lot of questions on my mind right now...I have a fair idea of what I want to do, and the courses I like, the ones that will best suit my aspirations for the future. But I have to make quite a number of selections and then hope my ENTER/Auditions all work out to the best possible way. Oh boy! The most interesting part of the whole thing is that this descision for my future is NOW, and it makes me think, 'wow, I'm not even 18 yet and I've got to make this choice about my future'. Who knows I could end up one day far from the theatre (but let's hope that never happens). I'm beginning to think this isn't a "I'm going to pose a question here to everyone blog" like my normal one, I guess it's just me venting my thoughts on the subject- well it's a blog, which is what you're meant to do right? But I think this blog is still valuable on a 'more than me' scale. There are a lot of people on here like me, coming to that time in their life when they have to think 'what am I going to do?' 'What path am I going to take?'. We're out there going to Open Days taking a look into courses, summing up our favourite areas of such an interesting and diverse industry and then going 'Which option is going to suit me best?'. Obviously there are those going through it, but then there are those that have been there. Maybe it's you reading this right now. Maybe you went to Uni and studied a course and have been performing ever since, maybe you were in another industry and just one day decided "you know what, I think I might go into theatre!", maybe you grew up in that performing family environment and it's always just been your lifestyle. But think back to where it all started...what choice did you make? Maybe it's all a tangled path- you started one way and ended up at a completely different end... All I know is, that the only future I can see in reference to my course selection and the future of that is that...it's all got to be done by September. The clock is ticking... But will I make the right descision? ---Feel free to discuss ideas on courses, career paths in the industry, your own experiences down below. I'd love to hear and find out about how you got where you are. If you're feeling as confused as me right now about how you're going to do this...add your story below too. Just keep it friendly, let's have a nice discussion.