An Overview

What a year it has been. I often feel we as humans have a tendency to get stuck in the moment, stressed about what is going on and what needs to be done. This semester has been undeniably difficult for me but I have to keep reminding myself of how far I have come. I am not typically the type of person to share what I am going through, but I would like to give a recap of this academic year, to take the time to recognize the lows and to remind myself of the highs.

In somewhat chronological order:

• I served as an Orientation Leader for the first time with an incredible group that stuck with me throughout the entire weekend (and some of which still talk to me).
• I was hired at the Freed Center scene shop.
• My family had to move out of my beloved childhood home.
• I became a charter member of both Sigma Alpha Iota and Polar Cares.
• I understudied with the world-renowned dance company, Taylor 2.
• I started cutting again, after nearly 3 years of being clean.
• Jessica killed herself.
• I spent four and a half days in New York City with my best friend. We saw four Tony Award-winning musicals and met some of my heroes, including Wayne Brady and Lin Manuel-Miranda.
• I completed 22 credit hours over the course of the first semester.
• I learned how to fly.
• I understudied with NYC-based dance company, Ballets With A Twist.
• I served as Master Electrician for Picnic.
• I was cast in the student directed one-act, Chamber Music.
• I overdosed and ended up in the hospital.
• I saw one of my favourite rappers, Kyle, and met/befriended a few talented local artists.
• I had a mental breakdown and went home for two weeks.
• I ended a two-year abusive relationship.
• I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
• I had to report my ex for stalking and harassment. 
• I was nominated for Best Supporting Actor within the department for my role in Chamber Music.
• I quit my sorority.
• I will audition for the fall season tomorrow.
• I will be initiated into the Theatre Honorary, Theta Alpha Phi, on Sunday.
• By the end of the semester, I will have completed 25 credit hours.

These are just a few of the things that happened that have profoundly impacted me. It has undoubtedly been an eventful year, and it is not over yet. This will be my last blog for this class, but I value the lessons that I have learned and the opportunity I have had to share with my peers.

Be kind, be happy, and keep fighting the good fight.

Kathryn

25 Years of Freed

Saturday evening, the Freed Center for the Performing Arts celebrated its 25th anniversary. We had the performing group, Broadway Boys, in house to sing arrangements of several well-known Broadway tunes. As an arts administration student, I volunteered as a hospitality manager, meaning that I spent five hours handing out free cake and water bottles to patrons.

Most of the people that came to the show had no idea what the cake was for, so I had the pleasure of sharing with them the happy occasion. Throughout the night I talked to people who had been coming to Freed since it opened and they told me some of their favourite memories throughout the years. It always shocks me to remember that the Freed Center has been operating for a quarter of a century because of how well it is kept- we have a beautiful art gallery in the front, a working scene shop and electrics shop, a dance studio, a costume shop, and a broadcasting center, as well as the two performing centers.

Freed is truly my home away from home. I have eaten, slept, cried, laughed, and bled in the building. I have been in the tunnels under it and looked over campus from the roof. When Jessica died, the entire theatre department met in 114 (the dance room) to mourn together, without any sort of message sent out- we all understood that Freed is our safe place and where our family could gather. Freed was the first place I ever visited on campus; I walked in and somehow knew I was home. The building itself is older than I am and I am sure it will still stand long after I am gone, but for these four years, it feels like mine.

To those of you that have not spent much time in Freed, I encourage you to. There are work opportunities as an usher, meaning you get paid to watch shows and hand out programs, you can be a voice of WONB, the costume shop gives you the opportunity to learn how to fix your own clothes and give you a competitive edge for Halloween, and the scene shop is a great place to work with your hands, especially if you are studying engineering or manufacturing. It is one of the most beautiful buildings on campus and has so much more to offer than meets the eye.

Do you have a favorite building on campus? What is it and why?

Until next time!

Kathryn

Puppy Fever

I promise she's as excited as I am.

As a child, I was not much of an animal person, much to the dismay of my mother. She had worked for a veterinarian throughout high school and college and had kept pets consistently ever since. Even though I always had dogs growing up (as well as hermit crabs, a cat, guinea pigs, a rabbit, a hedgehog, and countless goldfish...) I never formed a close connection with them. Though I was fond of them, they were just bodies around the house.

One of the changes I have gone through this year is realizing how much I took my dogs for granted. The more I see 4-Paws therapy dogs around campus, the more I miss my own pup. Over spring break, Easter, and my sickness, my dog has sat loyally by my side and offered me unprecedented comfort. Deeka is a pure bred mutt, with no discernable features from any particular breed. She is extremely gentle and loves affection. Her hobbies include but are not limited to: sleeping, lying in the sunlight, getting her belly rubbed, and chasing groundhogs. She is the smallest dog I have ever had, weighing in at a meager 45 lbs, but thinks she is big enough to get in fights with her late sister, a Rottweiler twice her size. I firmly believe that, if I were a dog, I would be just like her.

Nowadays when I'm feeling down, I seek out the therapy dogs on campus (Babs is my favorite but please do not tell Primrose). When that does not work out, I look up pictures of puppies or other cute animals to help cheer myself up. I have not quite pinpointed what it is that changed my attitude towards animals, but I am certainly not complaining.

Do you all have pets? What are they? What are their names? I want to hear all about them!

Until next time!

Kathryn

One More Month

This semester it seems like I keep telling myself "I just have to make it through this week" or "I just have to get to the end of the day." Today sitting through my classes, I realized that every week is like this. April is going to be one heck of a month.

Not to worry, there's actually more things not even on this calendar!

My favorite thing about the end of the semester is that everyone seems to have some big project due at the same time, and every professor believes that their class should be your top priority. I do not begrudge them of this view, but it does make it difficult to complete projects when each one has about 15 different nit-picky requirements with no apparent regard for the student's time or extracurricular involvement. Alas, I will have to do my best to stay on top of things and keep my head above water for these next 32 days. After all, I chose this lifestyle and therefore I have no right to complain.

To all you lovely readers out there that are going through the same last-month-of-the-semester crunch that I am, know that you are in my thoughts and I am sending you well wishes. We are all in this together and we will survive. To the Seniors, congratulations on making it this far- you are in the home stretch. For everyone else, here's to our mental and physical well-being, our GPAs, and to coming back in the fall.

Until next time!

Kathryn

I'll See You Tomorrow

I have been thinking about my friend Jessica a lot lately.

Jessica Eaton was a freshman double majoring in Musical Theatre and International Theatre Production. She was Props Master for Two Gentlemen of Verona and a crew member for Holiday Spectacular. I worked with her every day in the scene shop and I understudied her in Taylor 2, which she eventually had to give up because of injury. November 18, 2015, she killed herself. It was a rainy Wednesday morning, just two days before Thanksgiving break. Nobody expected it. We had just seen her the night before. We thought everything was fine.

I could choose to be angry at the university, and I was for a short time. Though we boast a 1:12::Teacher:Student ratio, we have a 1:1500::Counselor:Student ratio. It takes at least two weeks to get in to see a counselor. There have been two suicides in less than two years and nothing on campus has changed.

It has been just over four months and I still think of Jess every day. Sometimes I think I see her walking on campus or I think of a joke she would make during work. I still have her as a friend on Snapchat. I was by no means her best friend; honestly, I did not know much about her. But she was part of the theatre family and someone I loved. Honestly, I have never felt closer to her than I have in these past three weeks. I wish I could find a way to reach out to her and talk to her. I think I know what she was thinking, but that does not matter anyway. I just want to know that she is okay.

D.F. Wallace once compared suicide to jumping out of a burning skyscraper. The people on the ground keep telling you not to worry, help is on the way, but they don't feel the heat of the fire right behind you. In the end, it is not that you wanted to jump; it was the lesser of two fears. No matter how hot your fire burns, please know that you are irreplaceable and leave an impact.

Until next time!

Kathryn

April 1997 - November 2015

Theatre Is Weird

Rehearsals have begun for Student Directed One-Acts. I have been cast in Chamber Music by Arthur Kopit, directed by senior Jordan Michael Loyd. The play is an absurdist piece about a handful of women in a psychiatric facility planning a counterattack against the men's ward. Each of these women believes they are a different woman from history. Naturally, there are several clashes between the characters caused by their extremely different personalities. The play, at first read, seems to be nothing but crazy ladies trying to talk over each other.

One of Jordan's inspiration photos

The brilliant thing about absurdist theatre is it does not have to make sense. In fact, you could say it is deliberately obtuse. That means, however, you can do anything you want with it and it will never be wrong. Absurdism invites the audience to make their own judgements. It allows them to view a piece of art, interpret it and ask questions about what made them have those impressions or come to those conclusions. Theatre of the absurd is theatre that undeniably asks a lot of its audiences.

The first several rehearsals for this piece include something referred to as "table work," meaning the actors and director spend their time focusing primarily on the text and what it means to them. Jordan has asked his actors to share their initial impressions of the script and share images etc. that they think would inspire their performance.

I love art types like absurdism. I love things that do not make sense and force people to think. Theatre, in particular, has a special quality about it that allows strangeness to transcend. The deliberately obtuse becomes something entirely transformative and influential. It challenges the way people view themselves, their lives and society as a whole. I got into theatre because I wanted to do the weird stuff: the stuff that makes a difference. I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to do this.

Until next time!

Kathryn

Spring Break 2k16

Never have I ever gone on a spring break trip. Usually I use the time to pick up extra work hours at the coffee shop I have worked at for several years and tackle whatever projects I've been putting off, like deep cleaning or doing ironic cross stitching. This year, sadly, I was not scheduled to work and found myself with a lot of free time.

#nomakeup #nofilter #wokeuplikethis

The first part of my break was fairly uneventful: I followed up on some applications for summer internships, spent some time with my pet snake and went stargazing on some roofs. I am including the next part for the sake of full disclosure, rather than attention or pity: Tuesday night I had a near-death incident that put me in the hospital for most of Wednesday. I spent Thursday and Friday in a haze, sleeping and trying to recover. I am fine now and have outwardly moved on, almost like it never happened, but I can not shake the sense that I have experienced a profoundly esoteric event. As Mobb Deep (and Lin Manuel-Miranda) says, "I'm only 19 but my mind is old." I am always willing to talk to people about my past and am very proud of everything that I have overcome, but I am still processing what happened and probably will be for a long time. Rather than dwelling too much on it, enjoy the inclusion of an incredibly flattering picture my boyfriend, Dayvon, took of us that I have absolutely no recollection of.

In other news, Saturday was incredible! I bought Dayvon and I tickets to a concert for one of our favorite rap artists, Kyle Harvey, at Park Street Saloon in Columbus. There were three local acts before Kyle; two were entirely forgettable, but the third act was a trio that instantly caught my attention. Their frontman came out strong to a Kanye beat and maintained the high energy throughout their set by freestyling, handing roses out to girls in the audience and sharing some really intuitive lyrics. His name is sarob. (Rob Tate), and he was supported by his crowdsurfing friend and fellow rapper Joey Aich (still Joey Aich) as well as their DJ magician Möbius (Carter Moebius). Immediately following them was the main event, Kyle (previously known as K.I.D.) and his SuperDuper crew, all of whom were phenomenal to watch.

Shout out to @superduper_jesus and Pika (but also @superduperkyle, @superduperbrick, @chukwudihodge, and @superdupermaxx, whose hair was looking especially rad).

A video posted by Kathryn Watson (@katmw8) on Mar 6, 2016 at 10:28pm PST

Of course, as soon as the show was over Dayvon and I rushed to the nearest Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the UFC Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate and Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fights. For the record, I absolutely called the results for both of them.

After following up with Rob and his friends the next day on Twitter, I discovered they are all students at Denison University, which is just a few minutes away from where I live. Dayvon and I met up with Rob at my coffee shop to talk about life and congratulate him on an awesome show. He turned out to be an absolutely lovely individual, humble to the point of pseudo-shyness and pursuing a degree in Political Science. Dayvon's father, Travis Davis, happens to collaborate on a Columbus-based hip-hop podcast, DaBeeside, so is looking at getting an interview for them.

If I had to sum up this week, I would say that life is absolutely crazy. I keep finding myself with all of these networking opportunities, whether someone is helping me or I am trying to help them, and it feels great to finally start making my mark on the world. Above all, I am super excited to make new friends, as always.

sarob. stuff: Soundcloud Twitter Website

Joey Aich stuff: Soundcloud Bandcamp Twitter Website

Möbius stuff: Soundcloud Twitter


Kyle stuff: Twitter Soundcloud Website - Look out for the rest of the SuperDuper crew, too!
Dayvon's dad stuff: Twitter Soundcloud DaBeeside

Thanks for looking at all the extra stuff in this post, and please actually check out the music these guys are making. They have a really neat vibe and I think they deserve all the new fans they can get.

Until next time!

Kathryn

No Rest For The Wicked

Tuesday was Picnic strike, during which the cast and crew returned the Stambaugh Studio Theatre to normal. For most of us it meant time for a well-deserved break! Of course, me being crazy me, I auditioned for the student directed one acts Wednesday night, had callbacks Thursday and was cast Friday.

And then I get to go home and take it all off.

Senior Jordan Michael Loyd will be my director for the absurdist one act play Chamber Music by Arthur Kopit. The play is about a group of women who believe they are historical figures living in an insane asylum. We will have a relatively short rehearsal period to prepare to perform in the Mathile Lab Theatre in April. However, I am extremely excited to be able to work on this piece and to learn from my peers.

So far, 2016 is going extremely well for me. The theatre business is incredibly challenging and often disheartening. Even getting into this program has been challenging; I auditioned twice to be a musical theatre major and was denied both times. I have only officially been cast in one show and have never had a callback before this week. However, it has driven me to work harder than anyone else and it seems that it is starting to pay off. I have been involved in two productions already in 2016 and am about to star in my third. Of course, it seems just a tad bit unfair that I have been type cast as a crazy lady. 

Until next time!

Kathryn

Shedding Some Light

I fell in love with lighting when I saw the touring production of the musical Once (lighting design by Natasha Katz) in . There was a moment where the two main characters were standing on an elevated platform above the rest of the set, in complete darkness, silhouetted from behind with a deep blue wash. The idea was that they were standing on top of a hill at night time, looking down on the town below them. There was no set to speak of, no music; just the two actors standing in the light. It was so subtle yet so powerful- I swear everyone in the audience was holding their breath.

Incredible lighting from Carnegie Mellon University's production of Spring Awakening
Lighting design by Dan Efros

Lighting is one of the most important factors in theatrical storytelling. First of all it lets the audience see what is happening on stage. It also gives context for time, place and season, as well as set the mood. In Once, the set was extremely minimalistic, which allowed for the lighting to establish the setting. In dance shows, most of the lighting comes from the side, highlighting and complementing the dancers' bodies. Lighting can also add color to a set.

As Master Electrician for Picnic, I was in charge of maintaining the lighting designer's artistic vision, programming the board, updating paperwork, fixing lights throughout the run and operating the board during shows. The lighting designer for the show, senior Liz Roth, was eager to teach me all of the tricks of the trade she had learned throughout her years at school. I learned a lot about the different types of fixtures used in the show and how to operate them. I also learned some really cool techniques for designing by observing Liz's work, such as dividing the stage like a grid and designating lights by segment.

My favorite part of Liz's design was what she called her "Hal Lights." Every time the character Hal came on stage, the intensity or color of this particular group of lights (group 120 in the programming) would change. She used 36° Source 4 LED fixtures with Apollo 3549 gobos, or templates. This created a tree-like breakup of light on the stage, adding texture to other lights being used. It was supposed to symbolize the way that Hal caused tensions to rise between the other characters.

Scenic design by Kenneth M. Ellis; Lighting design by Liz Roth
Though this particular cue is not used in the show, it is an intensified version of Liz's "Hal Lights"

Ever since seeing Once, one of the first things I notice in any show is the lighting. Though I love performing, I have had an incredible experience working on this show and am extremely excited to begin to delve further into another aspect of theatre that interests me. This is yet another tribute to ONU's incredible theatre program; I can almost guarantee that I get more hands on experience with equipment than any engineering or pharmacy major!

Until next time!

Kathryn

I Can't, I'm In Tech

In the theatre world, there is an unspoken understanding- tech week is hell. Rehearsals are long and tedious, designers and their assistants are frazzled and pressed for time, and everyone is exhausted. Nobody involved has any spare time or patience for anything you might want from them, so do not even bother asking. Your safest bet is to leave them alone and treat them with due pity and respect.

Tech rehearsals differ from regular rehearsals in several ways. At ONU, each night of the "week" (actually Friday through Wednesday) has a designated purpose. Friday night is a spacing rehearsal, in which the actors move from a relatively empty rehearsal space to the actual stage, which is still in some degree of construction. This allows the actors to see what the performances will actually feel like and gives the designers/crew an opportunity to see the show without their added effect. Saturday and Sunday morning consist of load-in, during which crew and work study members do their best to get as much of the set and light plot finished as possible. Saturday evening will be a cue-to-cue (abbreviated as Q2Q) rehearsal, during which the actors run through the show, stopping every few moments for sound and lighting designers to program and adjust their cues, or settings. This may or may not bleed into Sunday's rehearsal. When Q2Q is finished there is a stop-and-go during which the actors get to perform more fully with fewer designer stops. Monday night, actors are in hair, makeup and costume for the first time. Tuesday is the first dress rehearsal, during which the goal is to have no stops. Wednesday night is invited dress, which is essentially a preview. Thursday night is open, with additional performances Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Monday night is strike, when we take all the beautiful lighting and scenery we have created, tear it down, and throw it away.

Not to mention class, work, and homework every day.

Actors typically have about six weeks of rehearsal to put their part of the production together. As a member of the technical team, we have about four days to make the magic happen. As master electrician for the current production of Picnic by William Inge, I am working non-stop from the top of call until we are dismissed for the night. Actors, on the other hand, have the chance to pause in between their scenes and while the technical team is working. I certainly will never again complain about being tired as an actor.

Please go see Picnic this weekend! Performances are Thursday at 7:30 pm, Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $5 for students, and they are well worth the price. The department has worked incredibly hard on this project and the results are beautiful.

Until next time!

Kathryn

What I'm Becoming As I Grow Up

Forewarning: this is going to be a warm fuzzies post.

This weekend, I had what I would like to refer to as a "College Moment." No, I am not talking about any crazy parties or wild adventures. Sunday I met with a group Sunday to work on a project for my Topics in Drama class. My classmates are undoubtedly taking the course as a general education credit or tag requirement rather than any real interest in drama. Me being the resident college theatre dork, it is incredibly interesting to see how they approach the text. It gives me the opportunity to see how far I have come as a student over the course of my collegiate career.

Filed under: Capstone Ideas

So far, I have taken Play Analysis, World Theatre History I and II, and Acting I and II, among other major-specific courses. All of these include critical thinking of dramatic literature, research based on the play, playwright, and the world in which the play takes place, and what it takes to be able to give a believable performance. I spent last semester engrossed in the world of Molly, a sassy anarchist that is the imaginary lover of a homebody named Beane (Love Song by John Kolvenbach) as a part of my scene study intensive. Before that, I researched the history of Greek tragedies and analyzed Euripides' Medea and its relationship with modern feminism. I learned the acting traditions from around the world, including Sanskrit theatre and Japanese Kabuki. Of course, I have also had my fair share of challenging language, from Shakespeare to doggerel prose from the Middle Ages.

Sitting with three classmates from different majors in an otherwise empty classroom, it hit me just how much I have learned. Looking at Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, a play written in 1592, seemed completely natural. I understood the language, was familiar with the societal context and allusions, and was able to suggest solid acting tactics to my friends without seeming too pretentious. I concede that none of this would have been true, or even possible, a year ago. Reflecting further, I have realized that I also identify every lighting unit that I see on television or at events, can do simple programming from learning to operate a lighting board, and am respectably savvy when it comes to basic electrical work and carpentry thanks to my work in the Freed Center scene shop.

I always said that I wanted to work in theatre when I grew up. Though I am still very young, "real" adulthood is looming closer every day. It was nice to be able to reflect and see I am actually realizing my dreams. All of my tuition money and late nights studying are paying off! As Sophomore Slump hits hard and my schedule becomes even more overwhelming, this College Moment came at the perfect time. I am extremely proud of the work I am doing and I know it is preparing me for a future in which I can successfully do what I love. As everyone else is going through hard times as well, consider this a reminder that you chose this path for a reason and you are smarter and stronger for it. I am proud of you, and you should be too.

Until next time!

Kathryn

I Am Not a Dancer

For the second time this school year, I volunteered to understudy for a guest artist dance show. A week ago today (so on Jan. 23), three members of Ballets with a Twist arrived on campus. They auditioned campus dancers in the morning, announced the cast around noon, and immediately began rehearsing. Over the course of four days, thirteen Ohio Northern University dancers learned a nine minute long professional dance piece to be performed on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31.

ONU dancers performed a piece called Champagne in the cocktail-themed show.

I came to ONU with only a few months of formal dance training under my belt. However, I fought to become a dance minor so that I could have priority for class scheduling and try to catch up to my peers, many of whom have been dancing for several years. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, the theatre arts department here is very good about bringing in guest artists to train with. In this particular case, Ballets with a Twist came in to set a piece using a combination of their company members and ONU dancers, then performed an entire show from their repertoire.

Though I was not cast at the initial auditions, I volunteered to understudy for the performance, meaning that I would be a part of the entire rehearsal process and be prepared to take the place of another dancer if circumstances required me to. Luckily, the artistic director and choreographer of the company, Marilyn Klaus, was so impressed with my eagerness to learn that she added me to the piece. I did the exact same thing for the fall semester of 2015 when the Taylor 2 dance company made a similar visit.

From these experiences, I have learned an incredible amount about myself and the world of dance. The visiting company members that helped to set the piece were incredibly kind and helpful, praising my strengths and helping me improve upon my weaknesses. Every day before rehearsal, we would have a 90-minute warmup based entirely on technique. The fresh perspective worked wonders for me; I began to feel things in a completely different way than I ever had before and benefited from it. One of the company members, Aengus Ortiz, told me that I was "dancing with a whole new body."

Though I am far from considering myself a dancer, I love the experience of working with professionals and having the opportunity to suck up as much information from them as I can. Of course, I also benefit from it as a resume builder and a networking opportunity. The company is based out of New York City, an artistic hub. I befriended several of the dancers, including one who actually offered to help me find an internship at the PR firm that she works for when she is not touring.

Despite the late nights of rehearsal and my aching feet, working with the Ballets with a Twist company has been an incredible experience. I think it might be within my best interest to volunteer to understudy for every dance show that comes through Ada until I am skilled enough to finally be cast the first time around.

Until next time!

Kathryn

Flying High in Freed

Being a theatre major often puts me in interesting situations. This past week, I spent most of my time in the air.

ZFX Flying Effects brought a variety of flying equipment and three flight instructors to campus and set up in the Freed Center for the Performing Arts for five days. Over the course of those five days, students had opportunities to operate all of the mechanisms, fit and fly in several different harnesses, and choreograph scenarios that are common in film and theatre. Personally, I preferred operating travel ropes and flying in a somersault harness, meaning that I had the mobility to perform flips. I also had the unique experience of flying in the "Billy Elliot" harness, which is fit for young boys in the musical "Billy Elliot," and running the stock choreography from that particular scene.

ZFX is known throughout the world as one of the leading Flying Effects organizations. Being able to work with their professionals and learn the basics of their equipment is an incredible resume builder. In the future, if I choose to audition for shows such as "Mary Poppins," "The Wizard of Oz," or "Peter Pan," my flying experience gives me a competitive edge. In addition, it was extremely fun, and I feel as if I got a full body workout from pulling ropes and stabilizing myself in the wires. 

Despite its small size, the Ohio Northern University theatre department continues to impress me with the guest professionals that they bring in and opportunities that they offer. Theatre is a kinesthetic art that requires practice to fully experience, something that our unique classes offer. Now when my friends at well known universities such as Carnegie Mellon or Cincinnati Conservatory brag about their programs, I can one-up them with all of the master classes and experience that I am getting. As always, I am proud to be a polar bear.

Until next time!

Kathryn

New Year, New Study Habits

After a seemingly too-short winter break, the polar bears have returned to the tundra. In typical Ohio Northern fashion, we were welcomed back with below-freezing temperatures, ice, and snow. However, the weather is not what caught me off guard once returning to campus- it was my course load.

6) Cry.

As a double major and double minor, I am very used to heavy academic requirements. I have taken at least 19 credit hours every semester that I have been at this university and see no changes in my future. This semester I am taking 23 credit hours, as well as working 10 hours per week, serving as Master Electrician for the theatre department's production of "Picnic" by William Inge, hopefully being cast in other productions throughout the semester, and am involved in several other campus organizations. Normally, this would not faze me; I love being busy. However, this time my classes appear to be slightly more strenuous than I originally anticipated.

At least I'll get a good arm workout!

I came to ONU to pursue my love of theatre. Thus, many of my past courses have been geared towards performance. Acting and dance classes are certainly challenging in their own respects, but I have never been required to study or read so much as I have needed to rehearse. This semester, my classes require a whopping 13 textbooks. Monday night, I was responsible for reading and journaling about nine chapters before class on Wednesday. Though I am an avid reader, sifting through four different management textbooks can become tedious. For example, stage management and arts administration deal with many of the same issues and paperwork, making it difficult to differentiate between topics when trying to recall them later.

Of course, it is only the first week of classes. I am optimistic that I will be able to find my groove and be able to buckle down in order to accomplish all of my goals. Already, I find myself adjusting my note taking strategies and employing an especially strict timeline for myself to finish tasks. I have always sworn by to-do lists and planners, but my organization will clearly have to reach even greater heights if I am to have any prayer of surviving this semester.

I am looking forward to see how the next 15 weeks will pan out for me. I have certainly set the bar high, but I know that I can reach it. If any readers have study tips or organizational skills that have come in handy, I would love to hear about them in the comments! I pride myself on my near obsessive compulsive tendencies, but I always welcome a fresh perspective.

Until next time!

Kathryn