Student Blogger: Skyler Burnett

What is a Student Representative? An elected leadership position where a student serves as a voice for the program's students in faculty department meetings and receives student concerns to communicate to the faculty. A program that offers Student Representative positions is a program that strives to serve their students.

Academic integrity is the choice to be honest and this is very important to your instructors. Therefore, it’s important to realize that maintaining your academic integrity prepares you to be a person who employers will consider trustworthy. So, how does a student maintain academic integrity? There are a few ways to do this. Here's how!

If you’re interested in soaking up the full experience of your school and/or program, I encourage you to find ways to become more involved. While you’re in school, take the opportunities you only would have there, get your tuition’s worth, and enhance your college experience. Furthermore, there are so many ways your skills as a performer, director, designer, or technician are applicable in other areas of your academic career. Find new places on-campus where you can apply them!

Summer is the ideal season for theatre students for many reasons: summer stocks, the sleep we never had time for, and of course, simply having the spare time in general. We have so much time on our hands now (unless you’re like me doing summer stock work) sometimes it may be a struggle finding ways to spend it all. There are plenty of things you can do to stay productive while still enjoying your vacation so you’re more than prepared to reenter a busy school year.

I can confidently tell you that studying and practicing multiple disciplines in and outside the classroom – arts administration, production, and performance – has made my academic career more valuable to me. If you’re like me and you’ve found yourself intrigued and interested in different areas under the performing arts umbrella, I encourage you to try them all. Even theatre professionals advise you to! The more you know and do, the more demands you are capable of meeting. 

I’m from San Antonio, Texas, and have never visited New York before. When the amazing opportunity to spend my summer with The Glimmerglass Festival appeared, there was no hesitation to say yes. A dream to work alongside and learn from industry professionals came true. Now that I’m here, I’ve found myself in the middle of a beautiful nowhere which also happens to be where opera is being produced by world-class artists. It feels random, but it is extraordinary.