Student Blog: Week In My Life as a BFA Musical Theatre Student

When I was applying to schools I always wanted an idea of what a BFA day-in-the-life would look like in general so - here is mine at Northern Michigan University! 

MONDAY: 

8:30AM: Wake-up and get ready for class! 

9:30AM: Grab a quick hot chocolate from the dining hall before heading to acting

10:00AM: Acting for the BFA! Today we primarily worked on sense memory for acting and how to safely use that as a tool

11:40AM: Done with Acting, on to English!

12:00PM: I sat in the class room for like 10 minutes before someone checked their email and said class was cancelled… oops. So, I go to lunch at the dining hall with some friends. 

12:30PM: I went back to the dorm to call my Mom

1:10PM: Work time! I work as a social media manager and secretary for the Nursing Department here. Today the software I use to create posts was down so I was struggling! 

2:40: Leave work and change for dance! 

3:00PM: Jazz I - today we worked on turns and choreography to The Wiz. 

4:40PM: Off to the practice rooms to work on rep. 

5:30PM: Dining hall time! 

6:00PM: Work out 

6:30PM: Rest time and homework for the rest of the night!

TUESDAY: 

7:00AM: Wake up, get ready, and grab a cappuccino from the dining hall. 

8:00AM: Time for work! Today the software was working! So I was able to get a post done and get it posted! 

9:30AM: Head off to acting! 

10:00AM: Acting for the BFA - Today we worked on sense memory again and push/pull tactics for arguments in scenes. 

11:40AM: Off to English! 

12:00PM: English 211- Today our professor read us a passage aloud and then we discussed it in groups. 

12:50PM: Grab my binder for my voice lesson. 

1:00PM: I had an awesome voice lesson! My voice has definitely improved since coming here!

1:30PM: Grab a sandwich from a cute little shop on campus you can use dining dollars at and put it in my bike basket to eat later. Bike off to an injury appointment. 

1:35PM: Proceed to drop that sandwich I was so excited to eat out of my bike basket after hitting a crack in the pavement then running over it with my bike. Cute. 

2:00PM: Injury appointment for my back! I usually have them twice a week as we are trying to strengthen it so it will hurt less and are also using Electrical Stimulation Therapy (ESTIM) to make it feel better! This week I only have it once though!

2:40PM: Bike back to dance after having ESTIM so my back feels GREAT. 

3:00PM: Jazz I- today we worked on turn dynamics and adding on the The Wiz choreography. 

4:40PM: Off to dinner! 

5:30PM: Work out

6:00PM: Rest 

10:30PM: Dancing with the Stars time with my roommate! 

WEDNESDAY: 

7:00AM: Wake up and get ready! 

8:00AM: Work time

9:30AM: Head off to Acting! 

10:00AM: Acting for the BFA: Today we continued sense memory

11:40AM: Acting is done - off to English 

12:00PM: English Composition 

12:40PM: Lunch time with friends

2:00PM: Off to the gym for a work out

2:30PM: Work out complete - change and get ready for dance

3:00PM: Jazz I - today was turns and choreo again but this time we added some jumps (I LOVE JUMPS!)

4:40PM: Dance is done! Dinner time 

5:30PM: Back to the dorm for a bit to rest / catch up on cleaning 

7:30PM: Went to see my school’s incredible annual Rocky Horror Picture Show’s dress rehearsal - it was amazing! 

9:00PM: Rocky Horror is done off to the dorm to rest/do homework and eventually go to bed

THURSDAY: 

9:00AM: Wake up and get ready! 

10:00AM: Acting for the BFA - Today was a continuation of sense memory and working on scenes. 

11:40PM: Off to English

12:00PM: English 211

12:40PM: English is done so it’s off to grab a lunch to go

1:10PM: Work time

2:40PM: Off to Dance 

3:00PM: Jazz I - Turns, jumps, and choreo

4:40PM: Dinner time! 

6:30PM: Finish dinner - we had a blast talking and the time flew by apparently! Then run to change into a Rocky Horror Picture Show outfit

7:30PM: Rocky Horror Picture show pt. 2 

9:00PM: Back to the dorm to rest and go to bed! 

FRIDAY: 

7:00AM: Good morning! Time to get ready for meetings

8:15AM: Meeting #1 which is about a trip to New York later this year

9:00AM: Finish the New York trip meeting and start Meeting #2 which is about Summer Stock auditions 

10:00AM: Meetings done! Off to Starbucks for a drink 

11:00AM: Laundry time and nap time while waiting to switch laundry 

12:30PM: Grab lunch

1:00PM: Work time! 

5:00PM: Work ends - time to meet up with my parents because they are here this weekend! 

6:00PM: Dinner with my parents 

7:30PM: Finish dinner and go to their hotel room to hang out and talk some more 

10:30PM: Take my parents to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show (this is now my 3rd time seeing it and I’m still in love with it) 

12:00AM: Head back to dorm, get un-ready and head to bed

SATURDAY: 

8:00AM: Wake up and get ready for the day

9:00AM: Get picked up and head to breakfast with my parents 

10:00AM: Shopping time (I don’t have a car so when my parents visit… I use it to my advantage to go shopping!) 

11:00AM: Farmers market! I got hot apple cider for the first time this fall season and it made me so happy. 

12:00PM: Lunch time! 

1:00PM: ...some more shopping

2:00PM: We decided to go hiking! The view was stunning with all of the fall leaves

3:00PM: Hike is done so we hung out some more in the hotel room 

6:00PM: Dinner 

7:30PM: Back to the hotel room - we play games for awhile

10:00PM: Goodnight! (tonight I’m sleeping in the hotel room with my parents) 

SUNDAY: 

7:00AM: Goodmorning! There was a gorgeous sunrise outside of the window

8:00AM: Breakfast 

9:00AM: We play more games (our family loves games!) 

10:00AM: We walk along this gorgeous path by the lake

11:30AM: Drive around a little bit and take photos of the pretty leaves 

12:00PM: We head to a store really fast to pick up cookies for a party later 

12:30PM: Say goodbye to my parents which is really sad but, I’ll see them in 27 days for Thanksgiving break

1:00PM: Laundry time… again and some cleaning (although you’d never be able to tell based on my side of the dorm)

2:00PM: Look into Summer Stock theaters 

3:00PM: Quick nap

4:00PM: More looking into Summer Stock

6:30PM: Head off to the NMU theatre department fall party (with cookies I got when my parents were here)

8:30PM: Head back to the dorm, rest, and eventually go to bed

Thank you for following along this week!