Why Did I Disappear During Weeks 3 & 4?

I’m sort of writing back in time as my newsletters progress, and so I had to look back at weeks 3 and 4 in my planer to remember what in the world I was doing. Well, my planner explains a LOT. In two weeks I counted 68 assignments under all my To Do lists during week 3 and 4. And this was also the same time I was performing in San Francisco and rehearsing for The Foreigner all at the same time. If that doesn’t explain how crazy sophomore year started out, I don’t know what would.

“Be a hardworking badass.”

That Was the Quote in my Planner so I Copied It and Put It Right Here

That quote is actually a text from Charlie Theil! When I get overwhelmed and freak myself (usually are really awful hours of the night when no person in their right mind should be up except the stereotypical college student) I tend to send SOS text message to a very specific few people. Charlie is one of those people! Charlie always knows what to say when all I’ve told him is 5% of my problem. He has a way of knowing exactly what I need to keep telling myself to survive the hour, the day, the week and actually be productive at the same time. Charlie has done more for me than anyone knows and I want to acknowledge that. Thank you for your love, your understanding, your absolutely incredible hugs, and sacrificing sleep for me. Thank you ever most for THE BEST CARE PACKAGE YET. You know me SO well! Yes, the bag of rice, the overflowing bags of cheerios to-go, the random sock, and everything else stuffed in there makes zero sense to my roommates, but you betcha I was literally jumping up and down like a kid on Christmas morning. You made my week.

Thank You

Thank you, professors! I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again. This school is full of incredible people that I am so thankful I get to learn from every day. My professors have offered me so much grace, it feels as if they have a bucket of it overflowing in their office. I am so thankful that those that I have crossed paths with and have connected with have been people full of compassion, empathy, and understanding. I would never be able to make the college trek without fellow students and professors that understand that life happens, and want to make my career a priority. Fun Fact: I’ve been hired by the SCU Theatre Department to design props for all the shows this year!

This is a Section That Just Has a Lot of Little Random Thought, so This is a Title Explaining Why I Don’t Have a Good Title

Congratulations, Ridgeview Theatre Department! Ridgeview High School has just cast their musical of the year, Sound of Music, and my dear Kaylee Kieninger is starring at Maria von Trapp! This talented sweetheart deserves nothing less her senior year, and I encourage all of you back home to go support this huge and strongest cast RVHS has seen yet. Congrats!

Playwriting class is an experience. And when I say that, I mean we start the class by our professor, the legendary and the one and only Brian Thorstenson, leading us through a meditation. And class is dismissed when Brian claps three times to take us out. I love this class so much, and I’ve written 5 completely different little mini shows in 8 weeks. If you’re interested in my writing, let me know and I’ll send you my things!

T-Mobile sucks. I cannot wait until the day I get Verizon. Better yet, my facebook messenger hasn’t been working for a week. Email me or call if you want to talk!

Have I talked about The Foreigner yet? Probably not because it took a few weeks to figure out what in the world I was doing for the show! First of all, this show is absolutely hysterical. If you ever get a chance to see it, don’t miss it. Secondly, there is actually a scene in the show where the KKK shows up. It was uncertain until about a week ago whether if I had to be a stunt double or not for a Klansman. Thankfully I am not, I am instead, the Properties Designer, Lead Assistant Stage Manager, as well as Director’s Assistant. I didn’t sign up to be Director’s Assistant, but our director, Aldo, quickly realized that I was the only one on the Stage Management team that knew Aldo’s language of jokes and silent facial expressions that translate into these huge philosophical, sometimes religious, but mostly just sophisticated explanations of advanced acting techniques. During the rehearsal process, being Aldos DA goes a little like this:

Me: Look at that swell line you just created!

Him: Yes. Worklist. … (he looks and me and I look at him) … Yes … write down what you’re thinking.

Me: (writes down an obscure note about someone’s choice on line delivery or physical action)

Aldo: Thank you. (pushes my pencil off the table so I have to crawl under my chair to get it)

Aldo: What are you doing? We’ve got notes to write!

It’s a humorous process, to say the least. And then he completely loses track of time and does some theatre soapbox preaching, but we still somehow get everything done on time.

I really want to study abroad next year, but I also have no idea what I’m doing with my life at this very moment and all the study abroad meetings are either during my classes or rehearsal. So with that, I’m still lost as to what in the world I want to do for study abroad because you can only apply to one program! At the very least, I know I want to go to Europe and not a Spanish speaking country. If anything, I would love to study Shakespeare in London or study acting at the Royal Conservatory of Scotland, or the Acting Conservatory of Dublin, Ireland. Either way, if I get into the program I choose, it’s going to some amazing few months.