Student Blog: BFA Back to School at Northern Michigan University

In August of this year I moved into college at Northern Michigan University for a Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) in Musical Theatre. I went through 2 unified processes (Pittsburgh and Chicago), many auditions, and lots of prescreens to get to college for a BFA and it was finally time to start the adventure! I was so excited, although I must admit - it's scary being a first year in college due to it being such a new experience - one that sometimes we doubt we're ready for, but let me tell you this: I was able to adapt much better than I thought I was going to be able to, especially since I had a great theatre community to lean on.

I moved in early for "bootcamp" for the theatre department which consisted of get-to-know-you activities, socials, and lip-sync battles that made me laugh until my stomach hurt. Bootcamp ended with all of Northern Michigan University (NMU)'s theatre department, students and staff alike, coming together to talk about all the opportunities we have for this year and it was so empowering to see all of the wonderful things NMU creates and does throughout one year - just affirming once again that I had made the right decision on where to attend college. 

Classes started on August 25th and I was beyond excited. NMU's theatre department goes by quarters instead of just semesters meaning we get to experience the most amount of classes possible in our time here. First quarter, I was in Musical Theatre Studio I (which is essentially an acting class for musical theatre specifically), Absolute Beginner Dance (the fundementals of tap, jazz, and ballet), Music Theory - Theatre and Dance (music theory specifically as it relates to theatre and dance), and for my Gen-Ed: English 211. I absolutely loved all of my classes (yes, even my Gen-Ed) and was having a blast attending classes every day. That isn't to say, though, that getting into the groove of college life wasn't a slight adjustment. In fact, it was a major adjustment. I came from having my Mom waking me up in the morning to being solely responsible for waking myself up, feeding myself, and making appointments for the doctor upon other things which I wasn't used to doing myself. It was strange and mistakes were made. I've forgotten to print out music for class, I missed the window to use a room that I had booked, and have forgotten to take my meds on numerous occasions - it happens. Although, none of that has stopped me from waking up the next morning and trying again. In the second quarter of the first semester, which we have started recently, I have 3 classes: Acting for the BFA, Jazz I, and English 211, all of which are 4 days a week. Acting for the BFA and Jazz I are 1 hour and 40 minutes every day and English 211 is 50 minutes a day. We have Fridays off which I love because that gives me time to get hours in at work and to practice for class. I work at the nursing department here at NMU as a social media manger and secretary 5 days a week and I absolutely love it! They are very flexible with my hours and that is a must with a BFA. After classes, I primarily spend time with my friends, watch shows, create boards on Pinterest, and practice for classes. I've been very much enjoying my time here and cannot wait to see what this quarter holds! 

If you ever have any questions about life at NMU or as a freshman BFA Musical Theatre major in general - feel free to reach out to me over instagram! @soniatomasiewicz