Student Blog: Looking Ahead to Senior Year

I finished my junior year of college at NYU Tisch Drama about a month ago now. It was a great year, and it was also a very challenging year. In my junior year of college I began my advanced studio training, and I kicked my double major into high gear.

I stayed in the Experimental Theatre Wing for the fall semester, which is where I did my primary training, and I loved upper level classes. I got to choose the classes I took, which was really nice. I became friends with several of the upperclassmen I admired, and I got to take classes with some of my favorite teachers again. In the fall I also got to be in an in-person show for the first time since my senior year of high school, and it was a fantastic, unforgettable experience.

In the spring I went to Stonestreet Studios, where I met some very cool people, and I learned a lot about film and tv acting. I also learned a lot about film and tv as an industry, and I got to work with industry professionals. It was a really educational, fun experience to be able to get on set and learn how to make my own films.

This summer I will be going to Amsterdam to study abroad at the International Theatre Workshop, which is very exciting and very scary. I've never been to Europe before, so I'm very excited to finally go! All the classes sound very cool, as do all of the teachers.

I am also very excited for my senior year because I've picked out what I hope will be some great classes. I signed up for some of the classes that I've had my eye on since freshman year. I'm going to take the directing practicum theatre studies class. I also got into the new play readings elective, which is where upperclassmen drama students work with graduating students in the dramatic writing program to workshop their pieces. I've also signed up for my final theatre studies class about writing comedy. In that class I'll have to try my hand at writing standup. I am also doing my last two journalism electives in the fall. I will be taking photojournalism, and a cool class about writing from your own perspective.

In the spring, however, is when I will be creating my own indie in ETW, which I have been waiting to do since my freshman year. An "indie" is an independent project: a project that graduating seniors in ETW can choose to do where we each build a show from scratch. We get a mentor and a theater space, and the show can be whatever you want. The indies are always very cool and unique, and some of the indies I've seen have been some of my favorite theatrical experiences I've ever had. ETW seniors tend to be very creative people. It's crazy that it's almost my time to create my own.

I hope that by the end of my senior year I will have my life beyond college at least somewhat figured out. I hope that I've worked hard enough to make important connections and that I'll have a job when I graduate. The real world after college seems scary, but I'm also excited to try it out. I'm really looking forward to my senior year at NYU, and I hope that it will be everything I want it to be.