Year Two- Why is it so cold?

Hey Everyone,
     So I have said it once and I'll say it again... I suck at updating this. Weeeee Sorry... :-p

     So in October I started my second and final year of graduate school. My first course was British Contemporary Theatre. This class included new directors into the program, so that was fun to get to know new people and getting to see my old friends from last year. I kind of wish this class was my first class last year, so I would have had a better introduction to England. We got to work with a couple of guest artists who are directors in London, Che Walker and Bijan Sheibani. They were incredible and I learned a lot from each of them. It's exciting getting new tools and ideas to bring into my future rehearsal rooms. Also it was nice getting such positive feedback about where I am in my directing career.

      My second course this year was Improv and Devising. This was a fun class that kept us on our feet all day exploring new techniques. I have experience doing improv from my Undergrad years and that came in real handy during this course. Also I have done a little devising in my past but not much. So it was extremely good to learn more about a few different devising styles. Again we had awesome guest artists, such as Steve Roe and John Wright. Steve came in and ran a whole day of how to direct and teach improv. He was so positive and gave off such a comfortable vibe I was really interested in his company, Hoopla, and wanted to work with him further. Luckily I kept in contact with him and for my third class this year I will be shadowing him as he teaches his weekly improv classes in London. John Wright came in for a day at the end of our second class. He was funny, inspirational, and had a unique way of sharing his wisdom about devising. He kept encouraging us to be all in when we did the activities. He said “If you want people to own the work they have to be a part of creating it.” I think my last two shows at the Footlighters were successful in part due to the cast helping build the sets, costumes, and props. We were able to bond and they all had a part of creating the world they were playing in. They were able to own the worlds within the plays and it became real to them and the audiences.

         I am three weeks into my third class. I am shadowing Steve Roe, creator of the improv company Hoopla. Mondays is an open workshop that has a different theme each week. It is open to all levels and anyone can come to any of the workshops. Tuesdays are his beginner class where he teaches the basics of improv. Wednesdays and Thursdays are performances classes. The Tuesday-Thursday classes run for eight weeks and at the end of the eight weeks the two performance classes get to put on a show for their family and friends. Steve is such a positive and caring individual it is delightful shadowing him. I have learned a lot about working with different groups of people and different styles of improv. I am learning how to teach improv, and I can even use these skills in my future rehearsal rooms as well. All of these skills are transferable and can even help me in a non theatre environment.

       In the middle of March I will be coming home again for Spring Break for a little over a month. As always I am super excited and miss everyone and my furry kitty tons! When I get back to England in April I will start my last class AND on one day I get to go to a wildlife park and feed a red panda!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOOO excited for that opportunity and if you're friends with me on Facebook i'm sure that day you will see TONS of pictures of one excited and happy Kellie. I am also looking forward to graduating in June and starting work on my thesis, which will be me directing a play and turning in a logbook about it. I hope everyone is doing well and hopefully we can catch up soon.


Lots of love, Kellie          

"Let's lose these winter blues and we'll stumble home!"

Well guess who dropped the updating their grad school blog? If you guessed me you would be correct... Sorry about that. I would say I promise to do better, but I know I can't promise that, I will try though!

I am a couple of weeks away from being done with my first year of grad school. One year down one more to go! I surely did not know what to expect coming into grad school, and now that I am almost done with my first year I can say I have learned tons! Again how my program works: I take one class for 6 weeks, 4-5 days a week, for 6-8 hours a day. So this year I have taken 4 courses: Shakespeare, Film, Collaboration, and Artistic Director. Next year I will take 4 more courses starting with British Contemporary Theatre, and hopefully take a study broad course in Bali studying movement and masks (we'll see if that can happen financially). 

At the start of the year I had a hard time. I didn't know what was expected of me as a student, as a social person, and as a roommate living with three strangers. I knew there would be an adjustment period but I didn't want to wait to be comfortable. I wanted to fit in instantly and not have to struggle through the awkward times. Never before have I experienced struggling making friends, so that was a new struggle. I am glad I went through that and I have recently learned that I was not the only one who struggled. (If anyone is still feeling that way I am extending my hand of friendship to you.) Part of the struggle was due to being in a class that had over 30 of us in the room. And there always seemed to be tension of some sort. Luckily the second course of the year we all had a choice between two classes, so our class size was half. 

After Christmas break, and half way through my second course, film, things finally started to click. I found a group opeople I really enjoyed working with, and had a great time with them. I finally felt comfortable being my natural self. Everyone else seemed to be coming out of their shells too. As great as it was to finally be able to call my classmates my friends, I had a new struggle come upon me. I am a big advocate for speaking out about mental health, and this Winter I struggled with not only being home sick, but also with S.A.D. (Seasonal affective disorder: meaning being depressed during certain times of the year). The weather was colder then anything I've ever lived in, it got dark early, and was always rainy and gloomy. Yes, I know where I moved to, and yes I knew the weather would be like this before I even got here. But logically knowing what is coming and actually living through it are two different things. I slept a lot, watched a lot of the media Dane sent me with, and watched lots of netflix too. Let me tell you, now that the sun comes out more and it doesn't get dark until around 8:30pm I am much happier!! 

During my third class, Collaboration, I still struggled with being depressed and home sick but School was busy and I traveled more for class. We got to work with design students from Wimbledon school of art on designing a play (we all worked on the same play named Liliom). I got lucky and had a fantastic partner who was great to work with. It was nice working with someone who was on the same page as myself in terms of the play and what we both liked visually. At the end of the course it was really cool to see all the group's different designs. 

Now with two weeks left of my final course (Artistic Director) for the school year, I am looking back and am reflecting on everything ive learned, both in my courses and the whole experience living so far away from my family and friends. I've constantly been learning new things about theatre, England, and myself over this time. The course I currently am in is all about the many roles an artistic director does in professional theatres. How to start/run a company, marketing, and how to create a season for a theatre company. This course is a lot of sitting around and discussion, which can be mentally draining, but my group of friends from film are in this course and a few others who all make it fun and enlightening. I am truly lucky to be here and getting to learn and discuss theatre every day. Everyone has such different opinions and come from different back grounds that all of our conversations are interesting. The last two weeks the BA first year actors have been doing a living history project. During school hours Monday-Friday for two weeks they were transported back to 2008-2009 in Chechen when Russia invaded. So yesterday was their final day, and we had class on campus with our windows facing their main action field. It was really hard to pay attention in class while the actors very realistically reenacted drowning, beating, crucifying, whipping, and other horrible acts on each other. After lunch we witnessed a shooting, and the mass murder of the Chechen people. I can't imagine what it was like for the actors, but it was rough on us watching it. Surely an interesting way to learn history. And I look forward to the next two living history projects on campus next year. 

The start of the year was rough, and then our head of course decided to leave after the first term. Now we have a new head of the program who is amazing. I absolutly love his style and way of teaching. I feel bad that this is the third head of course for the second year students. I hope he stays with the school through the end of my second year if not longer. This first year really has flown by and I'm looking forward to the new opportunities that are ahead of me. Next year I'm going to to live in a new house closer to campus with one of my current roommates and another actress that's in her course. We all get along really well and the new roomie and I love a lot of the same tv shows and Batman! We may get a projector from the guys who live there now and if so we'll have some awesome movie nights. 

Also on a random note I love having my groceries delivered. They even bring them upstairs! Such a fantastic service I don't want to give up.

Anywho, thanks for reading this, I hope to catch up with most of you over Summer. Love ya guys!! :-) 

~Kellie

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"I've got a song stuck in my head, one that I miss more than my bed"

So grad school... I'm at the end of my 6th week and the end of my first course, Shakespeare. That's right we only take one course at a time. So 7-8 hours a day 4-5 days a week we've been studying Shakespeare. And yes those who know me well would think this would be my personal hell. But much to my surprise it hasn't been too terrible. I was surprised when I realized how much I already knew about Shakespeare, but even more surprised by how easy Shakespeare's language really is. I have learned a lot and finally realized why I've struggled for so long with Shakespeare's language. Also I've realized how many terrible Shakespeare shows I have seen and how tired of those I am! But after today we have Thursday off and Friday is our last day. Then next week I type up my log book from class, which has to be 3000-3500 words long. And after that the following week I start my next course which will be Film. I'm really looking forward to that. 

So my class is pretty freaking huge. There are 35 of us in one class! We actually aren't located on campus either. We are about a 10 min walk away from school at a community center. So we are in a room with chairs. One wall has huge windows that show the backyard of the center. It has some trees and grass anddddddd kitties and squirrels. I have found myself from time to time getting distracted by the cute animals playing and or the rain and sunshine. It's been very beautiful at times. The first two weeks we worked with professional actors on speaking and directing Shakespeare. Second two weeks we worked with 3rd year BA actors on a scene from one of the 8 Shakespeare shows we've been focusing on. (A Mid Summers Night Dream, As you like it, Hamlet, Henry IV part one, King Lear, Measure for Measure, Much Ado about nothing, and the tempest.) The fifth week we had a bunch of guest speakers and now our final week we are presenting a concept for one of the plays, and giving our thoughts about how we'd like to direct it. 

Something that has bugged me since the start of class is my lack of connection with any of the other directors. Now I have a couple people that I'd call friends but not close friends. I'm not sure if it's me or them or in reality probably a combination of both. I've never have struggled making friends and being close to people so this is still a struggle for me. I know I'm not going to like everyone and I know not everyone is going to like me, but even knowing that I would have assumed I would be closer to at least a few people by now. Essentially this is actually a good thing. And something that I've never dealt with so I need to learn how to handle this.  And I'm sure I will. When I started my undergrad it took me until my second year to get close friends. Just back then I had my friends at home to go to so I wasn't struggling. 

I do have my roomies who are good. I enjoy being around each of them and my alone time at home too. I live with three actresses: Wendy- A 34yr old from Ventura but was working in SD for the last couple years. She is bright and calls me 'sunshine' which always makes me smile.

Jenn- A 27yr super chill gal from Louisiana who is madly in love with her boyfriend back home. I love their love and it's nice having someone else in the house who is also in a long distance relationship. She has taught me how to play hand and foot canasta, and we play once a week on Sundays (one of these days I will win a game!). 

Finally we have Alyssa- A 22 yr old who  is from San Diego. She is very bright and witty! We have fun laughing and being silly together. Also she understands my love for kitties and all fuzzy creatures! We're going to a cat cafe in Dec. (a cat cafe is a special place you can go to drink coffee and pet and play with their cats. It's so popular you have to make an appointment at least 2-4 weeks in advance!

So walking everywhere is cool. I've lost some weight which is nice and have gained muscle. At least I hope that is what's happening because I've gone down in notches on my belt but the numbers on the scale hasn't really gone down much, and muscle does weigh more than fat (right?). I like taking the tube and busses. Figuring out how to get places is a bit of a bitch at times. My UK smart phone sucks because it's cheap. Hopefully John will give me one of his fancy phones he doesn't use anymore and I can just add my UK SIM card to it and have a better phone. That'll help when looking up directions when we get lost.

So coming home for one weekend was tough and great. Glad I got to see Frankie, Dane, Russ, and Liz and all of our family. They had a beautiful wedding and reception. It turned out really amazing. After being home for two days I then jumped back on a plane for an 11hour flight back to the UK stuck in between two men and I really couldn't sleep. Ugh! But they fed us well and the movie options were wonderful.

Love you all!!!

Captain Kellie

"Home so far from home, So far to go, And we've only just begun"

WRound two! Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I had a blog perfectly typed out and bam it did not saved... Grrr... So let's try this again! 

The grand adventure has started! The flight to England was fine. Didn't get as much sleep as I had hoped but some is always better than none. Once we arrived safe and sound in the UK that's when the "fun" started. 

My house is about an hour away from the airport. And once we got the rental car it took us 12 hours to find the house.... Yes you read that right 12 hours... Keep in mind the flight itself was only 10 hours... we had maps (no GPS though) and we stopped many times to ask for help. It was ridiculous with learning all the road signs and just how different things are posted (or rather not posted) out here compared to home. In the middle of all the driving people were honking at us more than normal. We soon realized we were driving without any lights on! In the dark!! Before giving up we decided to give it one more try. And then we found the house!!!!! YAY!!! But it was 1am and the only roommate who had arrived was alseep. And the doorbell didn't work. So we pounded on the door and finally were able to wake her up. Poor roomie and her mom had been waiting all day for us worried!!!

After a good nights sleep and getting rid of a migraine we were into day two! Which ended up being much better. We traveled to Liverpool and stayed at the world's only Beatles hotel, called A Hard Days Night. The hotel was beautiful and filled with amazing pictures! Also was right next to the Alley where the Beatles first played and drank together!! So much magic there!

Turns out some of my friends, Cat and Kevin, from the Redlands Footlighters Theatre, were in Liverpool too, so we had a pint with them which was super surreal! Never thought I'd be in England with Cat! It was awesome! Thank you again for the pirate beanie Cat! 

That night we went and had a nice dinner in the hotel and then went to see my first show in England, Wicked! The second day in Liverpool we got to be entertained by a fantastic Beatles museum. 

After our stay in Liverpool we traveled to Scotland. We stayed in Glasgow and saw lots of sheepies and beautiful sceney. We went to to visit the MacDonald Massacre site. It was incredible to be there and learn more of the history of my peoples. 

As our journey was coming to an end we had a 6 hour drive back to my house. By now we had the hang of driving and navigating the roads. We arrived home and meet all the roomies! Using the rental car the next day we ventured to ikea and Costco to pick up some items and food. The following day was the first of our orientation days at school. 

It was very exciting to meet my fellow classmates and get to talk to them in person instead of just online. :-) turns out there are about 20 of us and I'm super excited to work with everyone! 

I showed Mom around campus and introduced her to a few people before sending her off to the airport. 

Now it's time for the next set of adventures!

 Stayed tuned for more updates! :-D

"I am nervous and anxious, it really counts this time."

         My Grandpa keeps asking me "Kellie, are you getting more excited and more nervous?" and all I can tell him is "more than you know, Grandpa!". As time keeps pressing on, I realize it has been 3 months since I got accepted to East 15 Acting School in England. Time, as always, stops for no one! Sometimes it feels like my emotions are on an hourly roller coaster. One hour I'm super excited and can't wait to leave and then the next I'm overwhelmed thinking about everything I need to do before I leave. Lucky for me my attention span is that of a playful kitten, so the overwhelmed feelings pass quickly. I am making lists and keeping notes on things I need/want to do before I leave. Although making lists and notes sometimes is easier than actually doing the things on them.

         I have already sold my car and am using my Dad's truck until I leave. I also have told my apt that I will be moving at the end of the month. Oh crap! That just made me realize I have 2 weeks and a couple days to pack up and move my stuff! Anyone out there want to help me move on the 30th/31st? 0:-)
I will also take motivating texts/messages between now and the 31st to get off my butt when i'm at home to start packing and what not. I'm moving in with my Mom who is so kindly letting me stay there rent free to save money. She is also letting me use Dad's truck to get about. It'll be nice for me and Frankie (my kitty) to have Mom and Tesla (her kitty) around. It can get lonely coming home to a "quiet" apt every night. It isn't really quiet because Frankie loves to tell me ALL about his day. Ughh packing... ugh moving... Only two more times and then I'll be set for two years before I have to move again. I really should just get rid of all my stuff then moving won't be too bad. I know even after I move in two years I'll still have to move more times in my life so I should just start getting rid of stuff now instead of moving stuff I don't use or even look at time and time again! Maybe when I'm at my Mom's I can sort through stuff and sell it to help get more money for this great grand adventure I'm about to embark upon!

            Speaking of money! I finally heard from Financial Aid and their estimate of my cost of attendance (this includes tuition, living expenses, accommodation, food, books, etc) will be $42,532 (They already did the nice conversion for me so I could better understand my debt)! Lucky for me Mom has shared some of Dad's money with me (and my brother for his wedding) and I currently have a good job to save some funds. But don't you worry I am also collecting donations! At work and in my personal life I am going around collecting recycling and taking it in. If you go when no one else is there the recycling person will help you sort it! :-) So if you have some recycling laying around I would gladly help you out and take it in!
Also I started a Go Fund Me site where people can make donations. If you would like to check out the site you can do so by going here: CLICK ME! :-D

          Besides a couple of people rudely questioning my motives for going to grad school (just a couple of rude jerks), everyone has been super supportive and encouraging! I have such an amazing group of people around me. I am truly one lucky gal! In everyone's support they have all been asking me "What are you going to do once you have your degree in two years?" I honestly do not know. But how many of you know what you'll be doing in two years? I asked my Grandpa that and he said "The same thing I'm doing now. Being awesome right here!" I like his answer. I think that i'm going to steal and update his answer and say "In two years I'm going to be even more awesome than I am right now! That's what I'll be doing in two years!"

            While preparing and planning to move and go to school I have met (mostly via Facebook) some people who will also be in my program and I have also met 4 awesome ladies whom I will be living with! The other directors come from so many different backgrounds and experiences I can not wait to learn from all of them! And my flatmates (how fancy do I sound?!?!) are all in the MFA International Acting Program and I can't wait to live and go on so many amazing adventures with these lovely ladies. We talk a little every day and so far we are all getting along really well! Talking to them makes me sooo excited and included! Also I am finding comfort in talking to them, because they are feeling some of the same emotions about this whole new life we are about to start together!

For now this red panda is off to enjoy some bamboo and hopefully start packing! (We'll see... tv and cuddling Frankie may win yet again tonight :-p)

Ahhhh Grad School

         After last year's devastating blow to my ego, I needed some extra help convincing myself to try for Graduate School. Lucky for me the White Wizard was able to convince me, and once again I applied to Graduate Schools this year. I applied to 6 schools and got invited to interview with 4 of them. The interviews were held in New York at the end of January. 

        Now I had never been to New York, or stayed anywhere that cold, or any place that had snow for that matter. Lucky for me I was given an awesome jacket, and some gloves and was told to wear LOTS of layers. I survived the cold and the brief encounter with the city. Sadly I got sick my one free day there and wasn't able to see any plays! :-( But my interviews the day before went amazing! I also got to see a friend I had not seen in a very long time and had a BLAST out on the town that night! 

          I honestly felt my interview with the school located in England went the best. It was the only interview that was paired with someone else and the guy and I had been talking for an hour together prior to being interviewed together. We both did not know that the interview was going to be paired or that we would be paired together so it worked out rather well and we helped each other out during the interview. The original person who was suppose to interview the directing candidates was injured right before he was suppose to leave the country so his colleague had to split his time from the acting auditions and fit all of us interviewing for their directing spots into his busy schedule. The other interviews went really well too. Well probably minus the first one where I showed up 15 minutes late because I went to the wrong place and had to run 8 blocks with a heavy bag while experiencing real snow for the first time! That interview (minus being late) wasn't too bad, the interviewer kindly gave me extra time and I made sure I was early for the next interviews.              
            
            Finally returning home from an exciting weekend in New York I had to wait three weeks to find out if I had been accepted. Felt like the longest three weeks of my life. And once the three weeks was over there was the possibility that I may have to wait another three weeks. See, the schools were allowed to start making offers on Feb 17th, and they could make offers up till March 9th. Finally after waiting for the three endless weeks to end Sunday Feb 16 came. I did not have work on the 17th so I knew i could sleep in so I took some ZZzz Quil to help make sure I fell asleep. My whole life could possibly be changing within a matter of hours... I was surprised the ZZzz Quil worked because I was so nervous! 
             
            That morning when I opened my eyes I immediately grabbed my cell phone to check my email. And waiting for me was one email. As I fumbled to sit up and open my email account to see if it was an acceptance from a grad school or just old navy trying to entice me to come in and spend my whole pay check in their store. Low and behold, it was from East 15 Acting School in England! The email said they were excited to make me an offer at East 15 in their MFA Theatre Directing Program!! And just like that I was in! A program wanted me!!! :-)
             
           At the end of the three week period where schools could make their offers only East 15 had given me a spot. Which is beyond okay because that meant I didn't have to decide between schools and it is in freaking London!!!!! (or rather 40 mins away from London but close enough!!) Plus the program is only two years and the other MFA programs I had applied to here in the States are three year programs. So I'll be done before I'm 30! (Eeep 30!)
              
           I have a ton of planning, things to do, and people to see before I leave (probably at the end of August or start of September). So come along on this incredible adventure with me! I will be posting updates about this experience and all the silliness I get myself into! :-) 

PS: If anyone would like to donate to me to help fund this adventure please feel free to do so by going to this lovely website: Click Me And Donate!