I hit the skids once again at the end of this semester. The straight dope: I crashed and nearly burned when I overworked myself. Thinking I'd be leaving in the middle of winter, I took on a nearly full time schedule at work to save as much money as possible for a move (in the city or elsewhere). Nearing finals, I was weeks behind on work and exhausted and nowhere the mindset need for finishing strong, arranging a move in the city in the middle of winter, and . That's when my advisor suggested I stay until May, and revealed that you don't have to be registered full time in your final semester to keep housing.
And so, after semesters of emotional hell, I did the unthinkable.
I delayed graduation and I'm staying....by choice until the end of May.
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
The Final Countdown
Hey everyone,
I hate to say it, but microblogging platforms...facebook and instagram have taken over. It's downright weird to read this blog after not touching it all for a year and a half.
Suffice it to say, a lot happened. Columbia attempted to financially expel me. I feel no remorse calling it that. I can't pay right now and my credit is trashed from the recession, it's been a problem since I got here, everyone in the admin knew about it. I was far from the only person going into debt directly to the school because private loans weren't an option. A lot of us left. Few of us found a way.
Mine included taking an unpaid internship that transitioned to a theatre management position at an off-Broadway venue in Hell's Kitchen. I love my job, I'm good at my job, and the money is good. Working this job allowed me to set up a six month deal for $4000 in payments to the school in exchange for being able to register for my final two semesters. I was within a week of being evicted from housing because of my situation and I'm going to keep fighting on behalf of my fellow student's because the current system is set up to let the less financially able, but just as talented - get in, accrue debt many times directly owning the school not private lenders,only to be told by the bursar that it's for our own good if we aren't allowed to finish/are forced to leave with a mountain of debt and with out completing our requirements.
TL:DR I got a job, earned money, ransomed my registration rights, and now - after 11 years, I'm completing my bachelor's requirements at the end of December. (I will not be allowed my diploma until the money owed school directly is paid in full, so I should see it so.metime around 2027.) The Course reqs are updated and....we're almost home free.
I hate to say it, but microblogging platforms...facebook and instagram have taken over. It's downright weird to read this blog after not touching it all for a year and a half.
Suffice it to say, a lot happened. Columbia attempted to financially expel me. I feel no remorse calling it that. I can't pay right now and my credit is trashed from the recession, it's been a problem since I got here, everyone in the admin knew about it. I was far from the only person going into debt directly to the school because private loans weren't an option. A lot of us left. Few of us found a way.
Mine included taking an unpaid internship that transitioned to a theatre management position at an off-Broadway venue in Hell's Kitchen. I love my job, I'm good at my job, and the money is good. Working this job allowed me to set up a six month deal for $4000 in payments to the school in exchange for being able to register for my final two semesters. I was within a week of being evicted from housing because of my situation and I'm going to keep fighting on behalf of my fellow student's because the current system is set up to let the less financially able, but just as talented - get in, accrue debt many times directly owning the school not private lenders,only to be told by the bursar that it's for our own good if we aren't allowed to finish/are forced to leave with a mountain of debt and with out completing our requirements.
TL:DR I got a job, earned money, ransomed my registration rights, and now - after 11 years, I'm completing my bachelor's requirements at the end of December. (I will not be allowed my diploma until the money owed school directly is paid in full, so I should see it so.metime around 2027.) The Course reqs are updated and....we're almost home free.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Final Update
This is going to be the final update for a while. Here are my grades from the past two semesters.
Fall 2015
SHAKESPEARE I B-
ELEMENTARY SPANISH II C+
THEATRE TRAD GLOBAL CONTEXT A-
ACTING SOLO PERFORMANCE B+
Spring 2015
MASTERPIECES OF WESTERN M C+
ELEMENTARY SPANISH I C+
ACTING THE SONG C
LIGHTING DESIGN D
REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE A
Fall 2015
SHAKESPEARE I B-
ELEMENTARY SPANISH II C+
THEATRE TRAD GLOBAL CONTEXT A-
ACTING SOLO PERFORMANCE B+
Spring 2015
MASTERPIECES OF WESTERN M C+
ELEMENTARY SPANISH I C+
ACTING THE SONG C
LIGHTING DESIGN D
REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE A
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Feeling Like a Tourist
"First, I'm trying to prove to myself that I'm a person. Then maybe I'll convince myself that I'm an actress." - Marilyn Monroe
I studied theatre and earned my associates in it three years ago. I have worked with theatre companies big and small, never in a performance role though. I continue to study at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, and was awarded a solo-performance thesis. And yet...I feel like a tourist in my own industry. Why?
Body image and self-esteem have admittedly more to do with it than I like. Only recently have plus-size role models like Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy come forward to usher in an era of being big and talented and ok with yourself, in the US. Somehow these women have figured out how to value themselves enough, to have enough confidence internally that they consider their work valuable to others. This leaves me about 20% envious and 80% curious. I want to investigate,I want to know how that happened, because while I cannot speak for all plus or curvy women, I know that many of us already consider ourselves to be a sort of other at base.
That's a harsh realization, but an honest one. One, that needs to be acknowledged before any sort of self-reparation can begin. And, not just with women, but men too - people, in the western world have so largely gotten caught up in the lives of "The Digital Jones'," that our own successes start to pail in comparison. So how do we get back?
I Am Not An Other
Saying these words are effortless. Especially for anyone with acting in their background. Just conjure up a vision of the most confident person you can think of an lie to yourself a little. Actually believing this, is another matter all together. Confidence despite flaws, including weight, is so foreign an idea that it is used as comic fodder or applauded because of it's rarity. An exoticness is tacked on to someone who deviates from the norm with detached and convinced bliss, and thus owning that you are not supposed to act a certain way because of how you look makes you rare, and in that rarity lies a power to control your options more.
I studied theatre and earned my associates in it three years ago. I have worked with theatre companies big and small, never in a performance role though. I continue to study at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, and was awarded a solo-performance thesis. And yet...I feel like a tourist in my own industry. Why?Body image and self-esteem have admittedly more to do with it than I like. Only recently have plus-size role models like Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy come forward to usher in an era of being big and talented and ok with yourself, in the US. Somehow these women have figured out how to value themselves enough, to have enough confidence internally that they consider their work valuable to others. This leaves me about 20% envious and 80% curious. I want to investigate,I want to know how that happened, because while I cannot speak for all plus or curvy women, I know that many of us already consider ourselves to be a sort of other at base.
That's a harsh realization, but an honest one. One, that needs to be acknowledged before any sort of self-reparation can begin. And, not just with women, but men too - people, in the western world have so largely gotten caught up in the lives of "The Digital Jones'," that our own successes start to pail in comparison. So how do we get back?
I Am Not An Other
Saying these words are effortless. Especially for anyone with acting in their background. Just conjure up a vision of the most confident person you can think of an lie to yourself a little. Actually believing this, is another matter all together. Confidence despite flaws, including weight, is so foreign an idea that it is used as comic fodder or applauded because of it's rarity. An exoticness is tacked on to someone who deviates from the norm with detached and convinced bliss, and thus owning that you are not supposed to act a certain way because of how you look makes you rare, and in that rarity lies a power to control your options more. Saturday, January 17, 2015
Fall Grades and Redux
FALL 2014
B+ Global Urbanism - Global Core Req - 3 Credits
B History and Practice of Producing - Major Req - 4 credits
C History and Practice of Directing - Major Req - 3 credits
B- Art Hum - Art Hum Req - 3 Credits
B+ Global Urbanism - Global Core Req - 3 Credits
B History and Practice of Producing - Major Req - 4 credits
C History and Practice of Directing - Major Req - 3 credits
B- Art Hum - Art Hum Req - 3 Credits
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)