Student Blogger: Reese Leif

Although the internship search can be daunting, the payoff from a summer in the professional world is immeasurable. With the right combination of proactivity, organization, tailored materials, and a positive attitude, you can turn the process into a meaningful step in your future career.

Burnout seems to have become a staple of the college student archetype – especially in the arts. From classes to rehearsals to auditions to internship interviews to job hunting to social plans to networking, pursuing an educational path in the theatre world is not for the faint of heart. When checking in with friends, “burnt out” is the standard assumption I make about my peers’ well-being, as it’s so normalized in our small but mighty world. Even when I have a fleeting moment to spend time with my roommate, who is a brilliant flutist in our university’s instrumental performance program, she appears to be just as exhausted and busy as the rest of my artistic friends. So, why is this? 

Why do we create art? This broad yet poignant question is always plaguing the minds of performing arts practitioners, especially in light of trying and divisive global events. For some, art serves as a pure creative outlet, but for me, it has become a means to bridge performance and philanthropy, creating a tangible impact beyond the arts sector.

Each student’s approach to staying sane in the busiest times of the year is different, and it’s important to find the cocktail that works for you. Through a combination of proactivity, digital organization, and creative outlets, I’ve managed to achieve an array of goals throughout my collegiate education.

As I reflect on my dramaturgical education over the past two years – which feels like a lifetime but is really only the blink of an eye – it’s fascinating to see how my view of what dramaturgy is has shifted and transformed. What once existed in my mind’s eye as an inaccessible, optional aspect of a production process has become the very foundation of any project I work on artistically, regardless of my role.

The first weeks of the semester have felt like jumping back into a cold pool. Diving into my schoolwork and commitments has been shocking yet refreshing – as a senior, everything feels different. As I navigate the halls of the University of Michigan’s larger-than-life campus, I try to take each stride with a newfound sense of gratitude.