I was curious if I could still post now that I’ve graduated, and apparently this means I can… shh… don’t tell Tom I’m here…
I want to make up for not posting as often as I should have by posting about my life as a graduate, and some reflections on the last 4 years of my life. First things first, let me give you the grand update on my life.
I graduated! I officially have a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Theatrical Production and Design with a Concentration in Technical Production and a minor in Visual Arts and New Media. That’s fun to spell out 
It’s true, I got the piece of paper in the mail that says that I did it. And there are pictures to prove it.
The class of 2010!
I cried, I laughed, it was hopefully not the best 4 years of my life, but it was definitely up there so far.
Meanwhile, while this whole graduating thing was happening, I was also preparing to go off to work. I’m currently working as the Props Carpenter, and now the Assistant Props Master, at Shakespeare and Company, a regional theatre in Lenox, MA. I was here twice before, the summers of my freshman and sophomore year, first as a Carpenter and then as a Props Artisan. I’m putting my education to good use building furniture, helping with scenic build occasionally, and building a lot of very cool hand props (some of which you can see at their website…I’m not going to include them here since they aren’t directly related to Fredonia).
Fredonia prepared me incredibly well for this job. Although most of my production experience is in scenic construction, I got a great classroom education in the artistic side of it. Fredonia really focuses on training in all aspects of theatre, not just in your concentration. This is perfect for a job like mine. Last week, I was meeting with a director to discuss how furniture would work in a slapstick comedy show. Earlier in the summer, I worked with one of the designers to figure out how to turn table legs bought at Home Dep0t into authentic Jacobean table legs…without a lathe. Just yesterday, I met with the Master Electrician to figure out how to wire a steampunk style helmet with four different lights. Fredonia gave me the tools to solve these problems. After graduating, I have the artistry to know what a designer is looking for, the technical skill to actually create it, and the good humor to have fun while doing it (because the pay isn’t good enough to not have fun). Theatre is a collaborative art, and to collaborate effectively, you need to know what the other person is talking about.
I finish this job at the end of September. After that, I head off to the wilds of New York City to gain fame and fortune. Well, at least to gain friends and enough money to have a roof over my head and food on the table. I’ll be living with two other Fredonia grads in Astoria, Queens. One of them graduated a year before me. It’ll be his first year in the city as well. The other is my boyfriend of 4 years, who has been working as a Lighting Designer and electrician there for two years now (electrics pays the bills…). I’m lucky enough to have a semi-regular job waiting when I get there. A friend of mine from Shakespeare and Company is the Production Manager at the Rattlestick Theatre, and another friend is the Technical Director. Their ATD recently moved on to bigger and better things, leaving a Kate-sized hole. Luckily, I am perfectly Kate-sized, and I’ll be working my first gig there in October.
One of the most important parts of my education at Fredonia was the resume and portfolio training I recieved. Building a good resume begins your freshman year, and the professors start encouraging you to work a summer job at the same time. That first resume and that first job are what helped me meet the people who are hiring me now.
So, despite all of my late nights working on projects, my early mornings in Theatre Management (8 am… ew!), my impossibly short freshman through junior years, and my incredibly long senior year (4 years is just enough time to get restless…), I’m thankful to my professors, my friends, my not quite friends, and my not at all friends, for how they shaped my education and my life.
Wish me luck in the real world!
