BWW Blog: Alexa, Play 'What Comes Next?' from Hamilton

One Last time from Hamilton would also be an appropriate song for this occasion as this is my final blog post. However, the point of this post is not to reminisce on how much fun I've had being a BroadwayWorld student blogger, it's to look to what the future holds for me.

As my college career comes to a close, I am constantly grappling with the question, what's next? Post-grad looks bleaker than I anticipated, but that's the world of COVID. I graduate in May and the idea of graduating into a world where theatre is not what we're used to it being is daunting. The theatre job industry is already a competitive one, but now there's an added challenge to find employment with many theaters being shut down or utilizing as few employees as possible. In a perfect world, I would find a job or apprenticeship in education at a professional theatre, but I know that may not be in the cards right away.

Luckily with my degree, I will receive a teaching license, so teaching in a school is not off-limits. However, I've been very back and forth on how I feel about teaching in a school. There was a while where I only wanted to be working at a professional theatre and teaching at a school was the backup plan, but as I continue to student teach (and I'm only a month in) I learn that the high school environment is not nearly as heinous as I remember. I'm getting to know these young theatre artists and being around them gives me hope for the future of theatre. I am reminded of how much being in the room, in any capacity, is important to me. So, if teaching at a school is the way to keep me involved in theatre, that's a path I am more than happy to take.

Another thing to think about when looking at my future is location. Where do I want to be? I grew up coming to Cincinnati Red's games, Kings Island, and the zoo in the summers, so Cincinnati has always had a special place in my heart. My three and a half years here at Xavier have made me love this city even more. It's my ideal place to live, but with jobs being scarce, I'm of course willing to relocate. I just don't want to go too far from my hometown. I want to be within driving distance (which is subjective) from my sister, so I can easily come into town for important things in her life as she grows up. Fingers crossed I'll get to stay in Cincinnati, but anywhere in Ohio and the surrounding states are on my radar.

So yeah, that's what I'm looking at for the future, we'll see how it goes. That's all I have to say, so I guess this is farewell. I've never been good at goodbyes and this is no different. Where's George Washington to "teach 'em how to say goodbye" when you need him?