I haven’t posted on CC in ages, but I was just thinking about this forum and lo and behold, this is the first post here…
If things had gone according to plan, I should have been getting ready to graduate from Viterbo this spring with degrees in MT and Arts Administration. Instead, I’ve delayed my graduation a semester, because I’m on the road with a national tour. Last summer, I was part of the Williamstown Theatre Festival apprentice company (I’ve been so fortunate to do amazing internships/apprenticeships as part of my college career), and from that program, I made some connections that led to an offer to go on the road with Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live in a role that is exactly my type and fits my “artistic mission statement” perfectly, so to speak. I was four days into my senior year at Viterbo when I decided I was got the offer, which meant I had to pack everything right back up and move to New York for a few weeks (read: sleeping in my best friend’s parents’ spare room in New Jersey) for rehearsals and then go out on tour. So I’ve been touring the US and taking my last few gen ed/arts administration classes online since September, and will be on the road for about another month and a half. I’ll return to Viterbo in the fall to finish up the last few performance classes that I’ve missed, and graduate in December.
I really don’t know how to share everything that I’ve learned from tour. It’s made me more self-sufficient, kinder, more confident, more consistent, it’s taught me my limits and when I can push them…and I’m still learning!
Getting this job really forced me to re-examine my post-grad plan. As my username indicates, I’m a Canadian (without dual citizenship). To make a long story short, I won’t be eligible for any work authorization after I graduate (generally when you’re on an student visa, you can get a year’s worth of work authorization post-graduation), because I’ve used it all for the apprenticeships I’ve done in previous summers and to do this tour. I was always planning on moving back to Toronto after my work authorization expired, but now I’m doing it in January 2019 as opposed to Summer 2019, as I had always planned. That means that this summer, I am BUSTING MY BUTT to try and re-establish myself as an artist and an administrator at home, so that I might have an easier time finding work when I graduate. I’ve been video submitting to Toronto Fringe shows from the road, I’m applying to professional development programs and finding companies to volunteer with this summer, and I made the shortlist for a national playwriting commission (still waiting on the results!). It’s definitely anxiety-making that I’ve spent the past four-ish years in the US getting my degrees and making all these wonderful American connections, and that those connections won’t mean nearly as much when I move back home.
When I graduate in December, I’m going to try my best to move out of my parents’ place (the commute from our Greater Toronto Area home to downtown isn’t conducive to an actor’s lifestyle) and perhaps in with my brother (who attends a Toronto university and rents an apartment in the downtown core). I’m very lucky that I will have no student debt and that my parents will allow me to live with them for as long as it takes me to get on my feet.
It’s hard to predict what life will look like post-graduation, but I think grad school/further training is in my future in a few years (I definitely need a little break–by the time I graduate from Viterbo, I will have spent 5.5 years in pursuit of my undergraduate degree): I see a certificate/degree in Disability Studies or a degree in Public Policy (with a focus in arts and cultural policy) in my future, as well as perhaps a certificate in acting from the National Theatre School of Canada. Ultimately, my career goals are a) to perform at the Shaw Festival and b) to move into artistic leadership with a focus in accessibility, which is very different from what I wanted when I first got to Viterbo (to be on Broadway, like every 17 year old with stars in their eyes). It’s definitely been a wild ride! Much like the MT college admissions process, the path through theatre school and towards “real life” is…never straightforward and always leads you in an unexpected direction.