Student Blog: Spring Break Crash Out

Spring break came and went. 

The madness never ends. 

I spent my spring break in New York City, doing my first gig as a production assistant. I didn’t go on an exciting vacation, but I did get to work on a pretty cool project with The Tank. It was a great experience to work on my first show as a member of the team rather than the cast. Although I wish there were more I could have done to contribute, I got to watch another director at work and see how chaotic real theatre can be. A lot of improvisation needs to be done, especially when space, time, and money can be so limited. Sadly, Spring Break is over now. 

And I’d be lying if I said that I did my schoolwork over the break. I tried, I really did, but the break raced by without me even knowing. Now, it’s the Monday after the break and I am scrambling. 

What I do know is that there’s always room to grow. I may have moments where my time management and self-control are at their best and moments when they are not. I have to give myself grace in moments like these, moments to acknowledge the fact that I’m not a tireless machine and that I can mess up. I can be irresponsible. I need to have a work-life balance. 

However, I need to do damage control and plan ahead so that the remainder of the school year ends in a success. I feel like I’ve run all the basic time management tips- calendars, planners, and prioritizing. What I’ve still yet to fully accept is how long it takes me to do something and how challenging it can be. 

Most of my work is readings, and although I try to have my multiple 20-page weekly readings thoroughly read, I often find myself resorting to skimming. The work doesn’t feel active so it doesn’t feel real. Contrary to my work from this break, there were too many annotated bibliographies. It was a lot of active reading. But at the same time, I need to be careful with taking too much time doing work. While taking notes during readings, I tend to take too many, taking 10 minutes to read one page rather than properly utilizing the time I have available.  If you think something will take you thirty minutes to do, it will probably take you an hour. If you think it will take you an hour, it will probably take you an hour and a half. 

Time management is only something you can keep getting better at. As we grow up, our concept of time changes. I remember wasting away days that felt so long when I was little but now every day just seems to end faster than the last. As the world speeds by as you slow down, taking a second to reprogram and plan can change everything. 

That’s not to say I also suffer from some slight procrastination. I most definitely do procrastinate because getting focused on one thing for a long period of time can take a lot of energy, especially if you are like me and are either always at school or working. There are some days when you can’t have the time for yourself which involves rotting in bed on your phone. There are some days when that will be all you do. There are some days where you play all your cards right and manage to do both. 

As we learned in my directing class, there are two things you will never get enough of- time and money. 

And oh how true that is. 

Maybe now I will finally post my casting notice on my Instagram to find actors for my final scene in class. 

I really need to get on that. 

And so the cycle begins again, but maybe this time I’ll be a little more equipped. 

Signed, 

J.F