Olivia’s Corner - First Year Insight Into PRODUCTION
Welcome back to Olivia’s Corner. This week I got to sit down with first year Performance Production student Laura Middelkoop. Laura uses she/her pronouns and her point of interest in the program is general set work including design and construction and she has her eye on a Technical Director role for her upper years. A fun fact about Laura is that she is trying to grow a mullet (how fun)!
Laura and I dove into some questions all about her first year experience this far, this interview occurred in early March and the semester ends in mid April. I asked questions about the good things that she has experienced as well as some challenges that she has faced, let’s dive in.
Highlights of Laura’s first year experience SO FAR
Laura mentioned that some of the highlights she has experienced has been the people that she has met. Something interesting that we talked about was the conversations about university before people enter it are very much centered around how university professors will not even know your name and how you will not talk to a single person in your classes and this is not the case here at Performance at The Creative School. Laura said that she feels like she is on a first name basis with multiple professors and instructors and she has made many friends in her classes. Laura said, “she gets to know people in the program and people outside of the program through my time living in residence.”
A challenge Laura has faced throughout first year
Laura mentioned that her biggest challenge so far in first year has been time management. Laura is definitely not alone in this, I know that time management is a huge struggle for university students in particular. Laura discussed that in high school she said that she used to, “live a very structured life.” She mentioned that the “class structure in university is very different from high school.” We discussed how university is much more self guided than high school and that at times it is challenging to keep up with course content.
One thing that Laura is looking forward to for next school year
If you recall from last week’s Olivia’s Corner post I discussed show calls which to recap, show calls are positions that Production students at the school get put in to work on a school show and get hands-on experience. Laura mentioned to me that she is excited to get a specific role on a show next year as in first year the positions that first year Production students take are “Production Assistant” roles where they work on a little bit of every aspect of the shows. Laura did mention however that being a Production Assistant is a great experience as you get to try many different things.
One good thing that happened to Laura this year that she did NOT expect to happen when she first applied to the program
Laura is the Head of Carpentry on X University Musical Theatre Company (external link) and she mentioned to me that she, “had no idea that there was an opportunity like this” in university where she gets to work with people from other programs on a show. She mentioned to me that, “having a supervisory role in a show right at the beginning of my time in the program is a super cool experience.”
First year will look a little bit different for everyone depending on the classes you take, the people you meet and other factors but it is all what you make of it. I had a blast getting to know Laura through this interview and I hope that you have learned some things about the first year experience in the Performance Production program here at Performance at The Creative School.
Until next time.
-Olivia