<p>Sorry to hear that happened. My D was there last summer (a year older than yours, as a rising senior) and took the bus everywhere she couldn’t walk and had no trouble at all. It’s fortunate that your D was with classmates and that it all came out all right, but one thing she might try to do is to get a copy of the bus schedule, so she knows where she is going for sure, and also asks the driver each time she gets on if she is on the right bus. CMU (as you know) makes it clear that they encourage the kids to go out and explore and that the program is aimed at being very-close-to a college experience; they want kids to have a feel for what living at college will be like, with all the freedoms and decisions inherent in that. And yes, it’s scary! I felt that, at 17 and as a rising senior, my D was more than ready for that, but I will admit that she went to a more supervised, slightly shorter residential acting/musical theater program between sophomore and junior years of high school. My husband and I viewed those programs as a stepping stone to help her gradually develop more and more independence as she moved toward college. I am sure your D will be fine and come back from the program safe and sound and more independent! But this freedom is why it’s a <em>precollege</em> program! :)</p>
<p>My daughter and her friends didn’t go on the planned trip either. They were busy preparing for one of the workshops that I understand many of the kids auditioned for during the week and didn’t have time to sign up. She was actually exhausted from the first week and was happy for the down time. They walked to the local library (I don’t know why they didn’t just use CMU’s library) and looked for monologues. They ended up back at the campus library and then reading through plays together yesterday.</p>
<p>So far she is enjoying her classes and her independence. I on the other hand would like a phone call every once in awhile. Sounds to me like they are all enjoying the program and meeting some new friends.</p>
<p>Your kids are no doubt getting ready to audition for the Augusto Boal Workshop. It’s a workshop exploring Theatre of the Oppressed and is run very expertly by Jill Wadsworth. My D is not very political and thus wasn’t interested in Boal, but I know a lot of kids find it very worthwhile. The kids who get into the workshop do a demonstration/performance for parents on Parent Weekend, and the reactions of some parents in the audience was as interesting as the performance itself. Boal kinda operates on the philosophy that there are two groups of people in the world: the oppressors and the oppressed.
Re: the library. I think the kids are openly encouraged to use the Pittsburgh public library and not just CMU’s library for finding monologues.
So glad your kids are loving the program! Be prepared for them to come home changed (more independent, mature and so forth) and very, very tired! :)</p>
<p>I can already see that she will come home changed. I don’t think she is going to want to go back to her typical high school after this six weeks. I wanted her to get the feel for what a typical BFA would feel like with no other classes. Obviously she isn’t having a problem with it. She is loving the literature class and the monologue exploration. She really enjoyed reading through scripts with other kids. D. said you saw other ways to approach lines that you wouldn’t have thought of. You are right; it is the Boal workshop. She is a political kid, so as soon as I heard of that I knew she would be trying out. All in all so far a good experience for her and definitely a growth experience.</p>
<p>racmom, that’s great! Let us know if she gets chosen for Boal. Again, I enjoyed watching other parents’ reactions to the Boal performance more than I did the performance. Some parents looked stunned, and several had their jaws hanging open. Some of the material can be rather, well, overt. My D thought about auditioning (curiosity, and had heard it was interesting) but decided to keep that after-class time open for more musical theater-related workshops, such as dance, singing, etc.</p>
<p>NMR, my D made the same decision about Boal as your D but as a favor to another girl is in an audition group for it so is rehearsing for that along with all the other things going on! I can’t get over how busy they are, how much they are taking on and how completely engaged and excited my D feels. Although she misses us and has never been away from home for more than 3 weeks I think she will be really depressed when it’s over! Fortunately we’re whisking her up to Vermont for a little R and R with some friends and family, which might be a nice rest stop before coming home. I’m lucky that I have a D (my second, my first wasn’t like this) who likes to check in regularly with phone calls or at the least she texts us. My sympathies to those who aren’t getting phone calls–I’ve been there!</p>
<p>HSN, it sounds like she’s loving it and doing really well. She’s also sounds like a really nice girl, helping her friend with Boal! Let us know if the friend is chosen. As I understand it, kids audition for Boal in a group and oftentimes, one or two from the group are selected. Not sure how they are chosen. In any case, it sounds like your D is having a fantastic summer!</p>
<p>My daughter was very intrigued by the whole Boal thing, but didn’t really have a group to audition with and, as NMR’s D, wanted to keep what little free time she had free for dance workshops and homework. She is, however, looking forward to attending some of the special speakers and activities associated with the Boal workshop. Her first reaction on hearing the name was “BLECH, we did that in sixth grade and I hated it.” But once she learned more about it, she thought it sounded VERY cool. She’s not especially politically active, but does have VERY strong opinions about it ;)</p>
<p>Bus issues: my D and some other girls also had difficulty figuring out how to get where they wanted to go, but because they were confused, they never got on the bus. (She left them at the bus stop singing “Jimmy, My Jimmy,” LOL!) Tonight I sent her a link to Google Transit, hoping she can use it to get clear direction of what bus to get, where it goes, where to get off, etc. You just plug in the starting location and ending location like you would for driving directions, but it gives you transit directions.</p>
<p>The kids will figure out the busses pretty quickly. There are not that many places to go. . .clues to the routes are posted at each bus stop. . .and if they ask the driver, they’ll be all set. I think it’s wonderful that the kids feel comfortable using the busses to experience ALL that Pittsburgh and the CMU experience has to offer.</p>
<p>As to the public library. . .you can walk there from CMU, and it has a very large selection of plays and music.</p>
<p>Good luck to all those who want to get into the Boal workshop. My son reported that it was A LOT of work, and sometimes he wished he hadn’t taken it on. But, it was interesting and “edgy,” and it seemed very worth it in the end.</p>
<p>Well, I guess they must be keeping them pretty busy… 5 days now without a call or email! lol very unusual for my D…</p>
<p>My D is a very good communicator and we do get daily calls but the last two nights they have been after midnight and she is so tired I actually try and get her off the phone—go to sleep! You have a nine o’clock class. They’re offering a water park trip Saturday and I’m hoping she goes–I think she could use the break and it’s supposed to be very hot–but she’s leaning towards staying on campus and catching up on sleep and homework. Last night she was up memorizing a monologue for her either acting or auditioning class, I can’t remember which. The bloom is slightly off the rose–she still loves it but I think now it feels less like camp and more like college. But she’s making great friends and seems very happy if occasionally slightly overwhelmed. And, already more grown up.</p>
<p>yeah, I guess all is well… I guess I’ll get a call when the debit card gets low… hehe.</p>
<p>I think my D is going to sandcastle (the water park) this weekend too…</p>
<p>She got in that Film project… would love to hear how that’s going… oh well… Parents weekend is only another week…</p>
<p>KatiesDad, you could always send her a text message reminding her to call. :)</p>
<p>KatiesDad, my D is in the film project too. She wasn’t sure how it was going to play out from the first meeting. And, I envy you going to Parents Weekend. I dropped her and we’ll pick her up and three round trips almost 3,000 miles a way is just too much! Maybe you’ll give us an update afterwards.
And yeah, I echo NMR. Gotta love the texting!</p>
<p>Hi All - Sounds like everyones kid is having the same time. We tend to call my D. around 9 p.m. or so. She tends to be in the room then doing homework but the moment someone knocks on the door, the conversation is shortened. They do appear very busy, but hopefully they will all come out knowing whether this is the correct path for them. My D. did the Chorus Line workshop the other night and had such a wonderful time. I think the best for her is being surrounded by kids who all feel the way she does about musical theater.</p>
<p>Well D dropped her phone and broke it in half, so her texting fingers will be getting at least a few days’ rest. She’s set up on Skype now, though, so we talked over that last night. We, too, are on the other side of the country and won’t make it for Family Weekend. Does anyone know if they do a video of the Talent Show? Wish we could be there, but those tickets definitely add up! D was going to fly back alone, but she persuaded me to come back and help her to move back. Wasn’t too hard to convince me :)</p>
<p>Last year, if people wanted video of the parent weekend show, parents had to take that video for themselves. It’s actually not so much a talent show (if you are referring to the performances put on during parent weekend) as a demonstration of what the kids are doing. The Boal group does some stuff, and then they have several dance classes sort of take a class onstage, and then they had about six kids sang solos. (My D was one of those who sang, and she said that all of the kids except one who auditioned to sing got to do so.)</p>
<p>lol, well got an email this AM… "dad, going to sandcastle today, call you tomorrow, can you add some $$$ to my plaidcash?</p>
<p>he he… glad she’s having a good time. NMR, yeah could text her, but just giving her some rope… letting her have some independence just to see how long it lasts…</p>
<p>Well, we are going through the same here. It seems that whenever we call there is stuff going on. I just get calls regarding getting her a book or something like that and reference to how much fun she is having inmersed in the program as well as how tired she is at the end of the day.
Neither my wife nor I will be going to the family weekend (too far for us since we are assigned 6,000 miles away) and won’t be picking her up. We’ll see how she manages to get home. Hope she makes it home alright and with no complications since she will be missing the first two weeks of school already (her international school starts early in the Southern hemisphere since it is winter time and they have an eight-week break from Christmas to mid-February and just a four-week break in July) and shouldn’t be missing any additional ones.</p>
<p>Dear all,
I am enjoying just reading about all of the kids. My S is also not too communicative. He did call a lot last weekend and says he loves it but it is very intense. He is thrilled with the experience and impressed with the talent of all of the kids. During the week he is too tired to call.
I did hear from him again today and he is still impressed but very busy. I have a question about the auditions. I realize that the chances of the Pre-College audition acceptances are slim to none and the regular auditions are not all that much better. My question is can you audition in the fall if you do not get selected at the summer program? It makes sense to me that it would be worthwhile to try again with the feedback received and after you had some coaching and maybe a few other auditios under your belt. Any ideas on this? Thanks much.</p>