'Cheating in academics is only cheating yourself of your potential.'  This is something most have probably grown numb to (including myself) whether or not you actually cheat.  It is so easy these days to throw an essay prompt or a test question into ChatGPT and see immediate gratification. However, the only person cheating actually affects is you.

Living in the city for the summer can be daunting.  What am I doing if I’m not headed to campus, finishing assignments, and working on a multitude of shows? 

No one warns you about how difficult finals are in college (or at least I wasn't warned). Not only are they academically challenging, but the end of the year approaches, all you want to do is spend time with your friends and enjoy the sunny weather. Here's my official warning to you, as well as some advice on how you will make it to the other side!

At last, the week every student dreads—or is excited for, depending on who you ask—has finally passed at my school: finals week. This week holds a lot of bittersweet emotions for me, especially at the end of my first year. On one hand, I’m excited for summer break and to be temporarily done with school. On the other hand, I’m going to miss my college friends and the memories we’ve made. I will not, however, miss taking finals. On that note, here is what a typical finals week is like at my school.

This year I have had the pleasure of being a small part in these graduating senior’s college processes – answering questions along the way and giving advice as they needed it. I am so proud of all that they have accomplished! Now veterans of the college audition process, enjoy some words of wisdom from these 10 wonderful seniors, soon to be college freshmen.

So to you, Burnout, thank you for showing me that I needed a rest, and hopefully I don’t see you again any time soon!

I am eternally grateful for my experience in junior high theatre, and appreciate the foundation that it laid for my future pursuits of academic theatre. The value of theatre education from an early age cannot be overstated, and I encourage any tween who is considering giving drama a try to go for it: you never know what you may find.

We all have that one show that has been ever present in our lives, whether we recognized it or not. Looking back and seeing all of the touch points has, just maybe, been my favorite part. If the title didn’t give it away (I, sincerely, hope that no one is shocked by this), it's ‘Into the Woods’.

Consistently look through casting breakdown sites, learn new songs that suit you, and figure out what materials you’ll need for auditions coming up soon. Be proud of the work that you put in because even if you get cut or don’t get the role, that work doesn’t go unnoticed.

So yes, I still fall victim to feeling like an imposter, but once I get out of my head, I feel so much joy and love for the career that I am in and for the show that I’m in.

Are you experiencing performer burnout, or are you overwhelmed by expectations? As performers, we’re haunted by the dreaded timeline. Who created it? Why do we all believe it? What even is this timeline?

It was probably one of the coolest, most surreal things I’ve ever seen in my life. I didn’t fully understand why people from all over the world came to my tiny lil town to see the eclipse, but after watching it I get it now.

Between all the constant assignments and exams, it’s incredibly easy to feel a phenomenon known as burnout. Burnout is very common in college, especially towards the end of the semester. I have lots of personal experiences with burnout, both in high school and college. I feel varying degrees of unmotivation at times, although there are some days that are way worse than others. The worst of it typically occurs towards the end of the semester, a time when I’m mentally exhausted. Burnout can be hard to navigate when all you feel like doing is laying down and doing nothing, but there are some workarounds.

Having personally experienced the effects of creating theatre on a human’s development, I cannot help but smile at the thought of getting to be apart of that process in any capacity. I find the deepest fulfillment not in my own art, but getting to see the process of others creating theirs.

When I came to the UK to pursue my degree in musical theatre, I never thought I would land myself in so many other things outside of performing on stage. In a whirlwind of events, alongside my assessments, I have landed myself a part in our third year’s final showcase.

Another thing that takes away the stress of the week, if I’m being totally honest, is my rehearsals. Sure, they may be a part of my stress-filled week, but acting is such a great way to get emotions out and I tend to bottle all of my emotions up, so channeling those emotions into my passion is just so great. Plus when I go to rehearsals I get to see my cast mates, and every single one of them brings me so much joy, so I instantly relax the second I’m with them. We all have so much fun during our rehearsals, which makes it really easy to de-stress after a long week.

The college application process is overwhelming for any student applying, but even more overwhelming for those pursuing a musical theater or theater degree. I have come up with my top tips for students interested in auditioning for college theater programs as someone who recently finished up the audition process!

When I look back, I realize that the stages of my theatre-kid history can be divided into distinct “eras” based on the shows that I most listened to at the time and the other shows that I discovered through them. Today, I’m finally taking a walk down memory lane as I pinpoint each “era” of my life as a theatre kid, and how each one turned me into the theatre fan I am today.

As we approach the final week of classes, I can only focus on one thing: summer. Though it’s still April, I’ve recently gravitated towards things that “feel” like summer. So, to get through this last week of class and the subsequent week of finals, I’ve decided to make a sort of “vision board” full of things that have made me most excited for the season, and things that I anticipate filling my summer with.

I am constantly trying to discover plays and musicals that are new to me. My feelings on all of them may vary, but they all have a unique place in theatre history. For anyone who enjoys doing the same, I hope your new favorite show is just around the corner!

If you have any free time before or during the semester, I would recommend browsing through some of these resources. They have been useful for helping me through my classes, but they're also just a lot of fun to play around with.

Whatever gets you through finals is totally up to you. It's a weird time of just trying to survive and all of my friends on the semester system can feel it coming. I always love people's thoughts on how they approach this final obstacle, so here are my essentials for getting through finals!

How do a broken pit, unfinished set, and a sick actor result in six incredible performances of Urinetown (the musical!)? Love, determination, and a bit of theatre magic!

The last blog I wrote about my major, I was pretty confident. I had decided to stop pursuing a major in technical theater, something I found unfulfilling, in favor of multimedia. I felt excited about the new creative opportunities. And yet I still had a lingering feeling of uncertainty.

As the regular workload lightens, and the finals load begins, I’ve found motivation in some of the most unexpected places.