Theater student Kathleen Gaskins (Natalie Yezbick / The Daily Campus)

Students in the arts spend hundreds of hours rehearsing, but some are beginning to realize that following their dreams doesn’t necessarily mean following the money.

“It’s a lot of luck, I mean it’s a lot of work, but really like you could be the best singer ever, and be so perfect, and just like nobody will give you a job, or nobody will cast you,” said SMU junior vocal performance major Keelin Granahan.

Sophomore theater student Kathleen Gaskins shares a desire to have a career in the arts.

“We just want to be able to act and make a living doing what we love to do,” Gaskins said.

Teachers at SMU try to be realistic with students about the possibilities of fame and fortune in the arts. They advise the students closely and try to make them as versatile as possible.

Because of this, the school has added a new musical theater minor.

“We have a number of students that change their major while they’re here and we are not opposed to that because this is a little slice of the real world in the arts. The arts are very competitive,” said Professor Virginia Dupuy, a Grammy-award-winning opera teacher in the Meadows School of the Arts.

Katie Bernet, a junior photography and advertising double major at SMU, attended NYU for one year to study dance.

She transferred to SMU after realizing the instability of the job market for dancers.

“Those stable jobs that you get with companies, they come once in a lifetime, so do I think I’m that once in a lifetime person? Probably not,” Bernet said. “Growing up everybody says you can’t do it unless you’re completely in love with it because it’s harder than normal life.”

Bernet’s sister Emily, a first-year at SMU, decided to pursue dance as a future career.

“Katie’s advice to me has been to be realistic about it and to know that things can happen and to have back up plans and be prepared for anything,” Emily said.

“You need to keep your options open and that you prepare yourself for staying dedicated.”