Student Blog: The Start of Junior Year

Most students starting their junior year are gearing up to graduate; they’ve completed all their introductory courses and are beginning to explore more specialized topics in their degrees. However, my junior year has started off a little differently... especially considering I decided to pursue an additional degree on top of my initial degree. 

Despite the stress that might come with this, these last six weeks of the semester have gone off without a hitch! 

For the last year, I’ve been pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Media and Communication Studies. As such, I’ve now reached the point where I might be expected to anticipate graduating soon. However, this semester I’ve now also been pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. And since I’ve just started this degree, I've been taking primarily introductory courses. 

These courses range from Introduction to Theatre for Majors to Performance I to Technical Theatre Practices I. But considering I still plan to graduate by 2026, I’ve added some additional courses that are not normally expected for students to complete within their first semester. For example, usually students don’t concurrently take Stage Management I and Technical Theatre Practices I. Unless you’re me... because that’s exactly what I’m doing. And the best part? I love it. 

Each of my classes cultivates an environment in which I feel comfortable discussing my own artistic opinions. As opposed to the classes I’ve taken for my communication degree, I tend to have the same familiar faces in each of my theatre classes. On top of this, we do a lot of hands-on activities and discussions, adding to the sense of comradery that’s been developed. For example, in Technical Theatre Practices I, other students and I have been assigned to work together as ushers for different shows throughout this semester. In Stage Management I, we put together prompt books and work together on activities like taping out. 

While I enjoy each of my classes, my favorite one that I’m enrolled in this semester is World Theatre History I. Something that’s always been consistent throughout my life is my love of history. And this class satiates that craving I have for historical tidbits, as well as my desire to learn more about various forms of theatre. 

The course itself explores theatre throughout different cultural and historical lenses. As part of the weekly assignments, we’re exposed to different texts that we analyze throughout the week. Just the other week, I read a translation of Euripides’ Hecuba, and the week before that a translation of The Triumph of Horus, which is the oldest surviving script that we have access to today. And as we discuss the pieces in lecture, I sit there in awe as I think about how I’m studying such long-lasting texts. Texts that are a snapshot of the cultural state of various societies through time. 

Overall, these last few weeks have solidified my belief that I was right to pursue this additional degree. I’ve met so many new people that I never would have met had I not joined the BA program and have learned much more about the art form that means so much to me.