Student Blog: A Conservatory Balancing Act: Schedules, Community, and Advocating for Your Education

I think that the scariest part of college and the decision process was having to choose which reality you were going to  immerse yourself in. The location, the people, the program, and the degree you will walk away with are all things you have to decide and somehow find a school that is a happy balance of all of them. It is only something you can achieve by finding every shooting star, eyelash, and eleven-eleven known to man. When I chose Webster University and the Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts, I knew that a conservatory-style education would give me the opportunity and resources to spend less of my day-to-day in university classes and more time getting hands-on experience and training. I’d be trading the “typical” college experience for training focused on preparing me for an industry that isn’t notorious for being easily accessible. That is a big decision to make at the ripe age of 18 years old.

In my first year, I learned that this conservatory-quality training not only applied to the field I was pursuing, but it opened doors to other fields I hadn’t even known I could pursue. It doesn’t only promise expert training in the field of your choice, it also means you have access to professionals in countless other fields to learn, grow, and develop under. When I approached our faculty about wanting to add directing to my plate, I wasn’t met with “Why?” or “No, that’s not your major,” but rather “How can we help?” and “What do you want to get out of this experience?” Though it is rather terrifying, the ability to advocate for yourself is a skill that will serve you both in school and in the real world. 

With adding directing, I now have a day-to-day schedule that really excites me! I am able to spend time in both design classes and directing classes, building a strong base of information that makes me a better theater artist all around. Outside of the conservatory, I have space to focus on topics and classes I am interested in. Having a curriculum that you are interested and invested in makes the tedious schedule completely worth it.

With my schedule being an added bonus of coming back to Webster, it's the people I am the most excited to come home to! I am so incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by creatives that I love and adore. I could sing the praises of my fellow conservatory members for days on end and still have so many things to say. Between both the student body and the faculty, you are surrounded by people who are both insanely talented and quick to celebrate the talent of others. Having this community to come back to set a really great tone for the year that was to come. It's a reminder that the gang is back together and we are ready to put together another killer season of shows!

A big tradition that we have to kick off the school year is we gather as a whole conservatory in a local park just off campus and we have a picnic. We get to meet our incoming first years, start the send-off of our fourth years, and reconnect with everyone else in between. It feels like sunshine in a bottle, like a breath of fresh air that will revive me for the next eight months. It can also be quite overwhelming in all of the best ways. We all get dressed up, eat snacks, take copious amounts of Instagram photos, and just enjoy being back in the same space again. 

As the semester continues, finding more of these “sunshine in a bottle” moments does become vital. Whether that is a breakfast and coffee date with that one friend you don’t have any classes with or homemade quesadillas at 1 in the morning, they are also a vital piece of the routine. Sure, it can feel like a trapeze act most days when I’m trying to balance the classes, the schedules, and the people. It is actually quite challenging. However, establishing those routines early and often makes the balancing act much easier. It feels less like choices you have to make and is more muscle memory of, “It is time to go do the thing.” 

Routine and structure are hard to create and even harder to implement, but if you start early, advocate for what you want, and lean on those around you, it can quickly become your best friend.