Year 1: A Review

 

My first year of college taught me more than any other year of schooling has, or probably ever will do. In addition to all the skills I obtained in class, living on my own and being responsible for my own actions was a valuable experience. I’m paying for college, and I know I should get get as much out of it as I can. I learned about learning and the importance of knowledge. My peers and teachers have so many lessons and morals to offer, and listening to what they say and taking it into account when making decisions has already helped me become more successful in my experiences this year.

Theatre is all about networking. This year I was lucky enough to attend USITT, the annual United States Institute of Theatre Technology conference which took place over spring break in Cincinnati this year. Because CCM played a large role in making this conference possible, students had the opportunity to do service for the event in exchange for free or reduced ticket prices, which can usually soar to over $1000. The greatest quality of this conference is that it gets serious theatre designers and technicians from across the country (and even overseas) into one building for 4 days. The opportunity to meet my future employers, colleagues, and even CCM alumni was amazing, and I made more than a few contacts during spring break that may come in handy in the future. The relationships with my classmates, equally as important as those from USITT, are what will get me through the next three years, and the rest of my career. Because the theatre industry is so small, I will be working in the same sphere with some of these people forever, so getting to know them and forming positive relationships with them is crucial.

 

One piece of advice I was given by a graduating senior is to embrace my own style of design and work to make it the best it can be. My major can be applied to a number of different occupations, so I need to hold onto the goal that I get out of this degree what I put into it, and that I will get more out of it if I develop my own personal skills and methods of design instead of imitating the techniques of others.

I have realized a lot about myself and how I behave since living on my own, both on-campus at UC and living on my own at my summer job. Being separated from my family has given me a chance to really see myself without the close protection of a parent or sibling to tell me what to do next. I got the chance to solve my own problems and make my own mistakes. Midway through my first semester at school I considered going into another area of my major (going into stage props instead of scenic design), so I applied for jobs in that area. After working as a properties artisan for almost a month, I definitely believe I like props artisan work much less than the area I decided to come to CCM for: Scenic Design.