Tech Week: Grad School Edition

I've been doing theatre since I was 14. I'm accustomed to late night rehearsals, no time off, and wondering what the true definition of a weekend was. I've spent virtually the past 4 years of my life doing nothing but theatre and classes. Last year I took on an internship which lead to a job at a professional theatre company all while being a full time student, working two other jobs, and stage managing at school and maintaining a 3.7 GPA. I didn't have time off or days off. I knew what busy was.
But there's one thing that graduate doesn't have that undergrad offered as a wonderful luxury: the ability to choose the time your classes begin. When you're in class from 9:00-2:00 and rehearsals go from 2:00 until 11:00, there goes your day. I've taken "getting homework done" to a whole new level. I'm accustomed to staying up late as I'm a natural night owl but waking up early is not something I enjoy. I used to spend many late nights up doing homework with no real worries about being awake enough for class the next day but this is a definite adjustment for me.

I'm in tech for American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose at Yale Rep. I'm on the deck crew and it's bringing back blissful memories of being backstage at Catalina, which is basically the last place I was on run crew for a significant show. I've spent so much time stage managing in the past few years that it's a nice change to not actually be in charge of something. I'm working with a great group of people and the show is big and challenging and full of activity. It's long hours and it's tiring but it counts as my work study so to get paid to do something I actually love? It's the best situation I could imagine. I'm enjoying getting to know people who are in my department and outside of it. And I'm learning more about theatre every day. It's an excellent combination.

Classes continue to be fun and challenging. Completing the reading is, as always, my biggest challenge but I'm working through that. Overall I enjoy all of my classes. Stage combat has been a pleasant surprise. I was concerned that I wouldn't enjoy it but it was my favorite class last week. I'm already LOVING my stage management forum class where we are learning how to interpret musical scores in relation to stage management. Very fun.