Questions Your Relatives Might Ask About Your Major During the Holidays (And How To Reply)

Written by Meaghan McKiernan

November 16, 2017

Holidays can be tricky when family members you haven’t seen in a while decide to ask you a lot of questions about your major. Here are some conversations your loving family members may ask and how to handle them.

“Hey, so how’s the theatre thing going?”

“Good” is the most common answer to this but that can quickly lead to a change in subject. The art of any family holiday conversation is to give them what they want to hear while still staying true to yourself. If you just finished a show talk about your experience with that. If not, talk about any independent work you have been doing in your classes or on your skills. They’ll eat it right up!

“Do you like college?”

While you LOVE being a theatre major, sometimes it can be challenging. Rehearsing, writing papers, vocalizing, training, and still finding time to eat and sleep properly and be very exhausting ESPECIALLY in at a college level. Whether you “like” college or its just meh, it’s important to be honest with anyone that asks this question so they don’t downplay this incredibly involved and dedicated lifestyle.

“So what do you do?”

Obviously as a theatre major in college it’s likely that you do A LOT of things. It is important to set up a short response to questions like this like “I am taking a lot of acting classes right now and doing some backstage work. I actually just worked on a project the other day that involved…” Chances are your family loves you and are interested in your life away from home but they don’t want a lecture on the classical techniques of Stanislavski or a physics lesson on the dynamics of sound.

“Do you take basket-weaving too?”

Again, being a theatre major is an involved and complicated art form. A college-level anything is not going to be “easy” even though some classes seem like a walk in the park to the people who don’t experience them every day. Make sure you stand up for yourself and what you love to do by explaining just exactly what your day-to-day life looks like. Chances are they could never do the things that you can.

“Still doing that theatre thing huh? You haven’t changed your major yet?”

Yes, I am still doing the “theatre thing”. Yes, I still love it. Yes, I am intent on making this part of my life. No, I will not give up. End of story.

“When is your next show! I can’t wait to come see you on stage!”

Ah, the question we’ve been waiting for! If you’re in a show make sure to talk about it, and if not, assure them that you will let them know when you are cast. Even though you don’t need support and approval because you are a strong, independent, determined theatre major, it’s nice to get it sometimes.



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Meaghan McKiernan is currently pursuing a BA in musical theatre at DeSales University. It wasn’t until high school that she discovered her passion for theatre while participating in show coir, dance team, liturgical music, improv club, the spring musical, chorus, and the spring drama. Some of the roles she has had the honor of playing include Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins, Anita in West Side Story, and Eponine in Les Miserables. Meaghan discovered a further love for sharing her talent with others while teaching dance at Premiere Dance Studio for four years and choreographing/ assistant directing for The Springer Studio for the past two years. She hopes in the future to enhance her skills and talents, on and backstage, and further combine them to teach children at schools and community theatres.