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. 

We all know that first semester of senior year is super busy! In this blog I'll go into depth about 2 unique courses that I'm taking! I'll also talk a little bit about my college application process and how that's a huge part of my life right now as we approach upcoming deadlines.

New semester, new adventures! While Japan’s academic year starts in April, this fall term is packed with exciting courses for me, from Japanese criminal law to art and literature. My favorite? A class on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, which is giving me a rare chance to dive into Western classics. On top of that, I’ve just started guiding walking tours for foreign visitors around Tokyo’s theater districts. With tourism booming, I thought a tour focused on Japan’s unique theater culture, including its distinct musicals, would be something special. It’s been a rewarding way to share my passion while learning even more myself!

In this blog, we reminisces on our summer activities and discuss how it might feel getting back into a routine with school. Often in high school, as students we find there can be a ton of stress that surrounds us and we discuss ways to focus on ourselves. We also discuss the 'audition season' process for my high school theatre!! Enjoy!!

I will not limit my own understanding of the world around me by putting myself in a box that determines what knowledge I can, and cannot obtain. I will strive to learn all that I can so that I can create the meaningful types of theater that I want to create.

What’s the secret to saving almost $300 on theatre in one month? Experience it in Europe!! One of the beautiful things I’ve learned about Vienna is how cheap theatre is here! This month, I’ve seen two musicals, one opera, and two plays.

No one likes to talk about academic integrity, but it's important to discuss as college students taking intense courses with big workloads!

In the fall of my sophomore year, I was cast as a swing in JMU STAD's production of 'Sunday in the Park with George'. While covering three tracks sounds daunting, here's how Megan's experience went. Spoiler alert, it was phenomenal!

Comfortability when writing is something I have not always felt. I vividly remember sitting in AP English in high school and thinking, “Wow, I’m the worst writer in here,” as I scanned the room with my eyes...at that level I was nowhere close to the people sitting next to me…or at least I thought so.

Experience may get you in the room, but talent and what you offer books the role.  You don’t need to audition for everything.

I remember how stressful and draining the college prescreening process was my senior year of high school. Trying to get the perfect takes, find the perfect lighting, all while trying not to think about the hundreds of other applicants who could’ve had more training or better quality headshots. I was so relieved to finally have it over and have a school picked out to go to… and now I’m doing it again.

I have never been president of anything before in my life. I was so scared to run and a little more scared once I got elected, but I had nothing to worry about.

As a returning college student, my first year was a lot of trial and error as I learned what did and didn’t work for me. Now, I am hopeful that I can improve my quality of life by implementing some new habits and goals.

College is such an exciting and monumental time and often people who love you most want to know all about it! In an effort to thank them for asking, I try to offer a holistic view of the year so far. Here are some things I have implemented so I can try and  remember as much of college as possible.

Would you keep talking to someone who is having a conversation with another group? Stop searching for approval in a room that doesn’t want to listen or watch.

After a week’s worth of organization, meetings and rehearsals, it has only just occurred to me how much I am going to miss all of this.

When talking about academic integrity for a performing arts major, the topic becomes a little tricky to discuss. Especially when most of your assignments include performing monologues, scenes, and having personal reflections, there doesn’t seem like much room for you to disrupt the expectation of academic integrity.

For the past couple of years, I have had friends tell me I should start an Instagram focused on Broadway. I have always loved keeping up with the latest news, so, it was suggested I find an outlet for it. I never actually considered it, though, because I thought it might warrant judgment or embarrassment. Eventually, I grew tired of this fear.

Theatre is the cornerstone of literally every other art form. While every other art form transports viewers to another world through sight or sound, theatre suspends one’s disbelief by literally creating a whole world right before the viewer’s eyes, unseparated by space, time, or a screen.

A few weeks of the semester have passed, so it’s finally time to discuss how the new term has been going. Personally, I’m having nothing short of a great time as a sophomore at the University of Connecticut. I’m making new friends and I’m continuing to get more involved with extracurriculars. Here’s a brief recap of my semester so far!

When I started going to school and developing my craft, I ended up dropping most of the ideas that these acting technique books taught me, but I found myself seeking out something else entirely. A big aspect of the acting technique that I studied in school dealt with breathing and mindset. Because of this, I sought out books that helped the mindset of a storyteller.

So far, getting to work on this show has been really cool. I love DND and I think it is oh so awesome, so getting to dive into that through She Kills Monsters has made me oh so happy.

In high school, academic integrity was at the forefront of my school's philosophy. At JMU and the School of Theatre and Dance, the expectations are the same. Here's how Megan keeps her academic integrity strong during times of stress.

I can recall certain instances where actors have bent over backward trying to make themselves available, whether that means calling out of work several times a week so they could attend callbacks or planning their vacations based on when auditions are slow.

The most obvious difference was a lyric change in “Do-Re-Mi.” Instead of using solfege, they sang “C-D-E,” and each pneumonic was changed to reflect the note name (for example “D like the fast D-Tram”). My original shock grew when they sang 'H' after 'A.' This led me down a road of discovery, dating back to the time of Gregorian Chant.