The concept of being "safely ensconced" in an educational environment during your NYU years is laughable. Let's face it. Most NYU students lead lives that resemble the hardships of "Survivor" more than the fluff of "Felicity." In the heart of the city, safe is one word that doesn't readily spring to the tongues of the hoards of students hovering over tobacco twigs outside of Main Building. NYU prepares the college student for the reality of the post-college world the only way it can - by throwing him/her right out there into it.

As graduation day approached, I watched my old high school buddies gnaw at their fingernails over potential job offers, apartment hunts, and financing issues while I kept a cool head, having already had to figure all of this out as a dorm-less sophomore with a screwed-up financial aid package and a bookmark to NYU's CareerNet. Life after NYU, to me, seemed much like life at NYU, except without having to go to classes.

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NYU prepares the college student for the
reality of the post-college world the only way it can -
by throwing him/her right out there into it.

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However, a few months went by after graduation and then the cravings started. I started to miss Tisch, with its theatre, the performances, and all the arts classes I diligently went to, sometimes forgetting to enjoy them. Those workshop classes at Tisch had worked their way into my very bloodstream and I found it hard to turn away from all the training that I was once so involved in. The Internet industry, which snatches up every young graduate regardless of his/her field of study, suddenly wasn't cutting it for me.

So, one day, when I got an email about two actors wanting to start a theatre company, I jumped at the chance to be a part of the not-for-profit venture. The concept, of course, meant work from the ground level up - a lot of work, actually.

However, when DISHA, A South Asian Theatre and Arts Company, was launched, my background in NYU as a Dramatic Writing major and A/P/A Studies minor finally seemed worth the $120,000 price tag. Suddenly, I was launched out of the academic philosophy of NYU and into the lives of other working artists in NYC. And thus, I began to see myself as someone who has been trained in the arts, rather than someone who had once upon a time been lost in them.

Rehana Mirza is a recent NYU graduate and is now currently works with the DISHA Theatre Company that recently debuted in New York.

For more information about DISHA Theatre, please go to: http://www.dishatheatre.org.