Pics Or It Didn't Happen

I guess now is as good a time as any to tell my journey from general studies to PhD. 

1986 - I was born. 

 2012- I started a PhD.  

Done.   Jay Kay. 

2004- I started my undergraduate degree at Texas A&M University where I was a theatre major.   In that first semester I changed majors because the theatre program was a big, chaotic mess.   Luckily, Dr. Judith Hamera was brought in to be the department head and with her help and the voices of new faculty and staff the department has changed very much for the better.

I didn’t actually become a theatre major till my first senior year. Yes, I said first senior year.  In the three years between my freshman and first senior year I was a general studies major and a math major for half a second. I finally settled on English as my major because I liked it and was good at the whole interpretation/analysis thing.  I had planned on graduating and following in my mother’s footsteps by teaching high school.  She actually teaches math thus the math major moment.

However, fate intervened and due to an unforeseeable issue with my foreign language requirement I had to spend an extra year in college.  I decided to make it worth my time and double majored in English and Theatre.  This extra year changed my life.  I know that sounds over dramatic but, it is true.  If I hadn’t had the extra year I would not have taken theatre history classes, met my mentor,  and assistant directed Trojan Women with her.  

(Trojan Women by Euripides, TAMU Department of Performance Studies Spring 2009 )

I would also never have realized that theatre was not just something you could “do”(act, design, direct).  I didn’t know that you could also research and write about theatre and performance.

In a conversation I had in my mentor’s office she shared with me that I could still pursue teaching but just on a different level.  She explained the new MA in performance studies that was being created and told me to apply.  

2009- I graduated with my BA and started the year long waiting game in between graduation and starting the new MA program.  I moved back home and substitute taught.  While substitute teaching is definitely not an ideal job I did learn that as a 23 year old woman who looks 14, high school was not a place that I could teach at.  More than once I was mistaken for a student and got pulled aside in hallways by teachers for being out of dress code.  I did have the opportunity to long term sub a junior level English class. It was one of the more difficult things I have done in my life so far but it did show me that I enjoy teaching.

Eventually the year was up, I was accepted into the MA and a new life of graduate school began. Coincidently, so did the tears and gnashing of teeth.  I loved my experience during my MA.  I got so many opportunities that I know other masters students wouldn’t have at larger more established programs.  I co-founded and served as artistic director for a Summer theatre company called Blueprint Theatre

(Antigone Arkhe by Caridad Svich, Blueprint Theatre 2011)

(The Tempest by William Shakespeare, Blueprint Theatre 2012)

as well as go to important conferences with funding because I was not competing with PhD. students.  If you or someone you know is thinking about going into a graduate program for theatre/performance, I highly recommend the MA in Performance Studies at TAMU.  If you have questions, ask.  I am more than happy to answer them.

In the second year of my MA I was deciding which schools to apply to for my PhD.  I applied to 5 and got into 4.  My safety school rejected me. (HA!)  I chose LSU for both personal and professional reasons but the overwhelming reason I am here at LSU is because the atmosphere is encouraging from both the professors and the other students.  Everyone is supportive and there is a “rising tides lift all boats” sentiment here that was present in my MA program as well.

So that’s my story.  Now clear out so that I can watch my shows!