What I learned this semester:

This semester I have learned many new things and tried things that I have little to no experience doing, but I wanted to try at least. Over the past few years I have changed dramatically and I want to keep changing for the better.

 

1-      How to Perform Shakespeare- Shakespeare and Ethics

Two years ago, I probably would have dropped a class that the professor announced that we would be performing scenes from Shakespeare plays. However, I wanted to stick with it, I knew about it before I signed up for the class, and I was really nervous at first. Since I’ve been working on it, I’ve been trying extremely hard to take the nervous cloak off and just have fun! And it has been fun, the more I try the more I enjoy it. I realized that performing theatre and performing in music (like a show in band, the kind like in Drumline!) were very similar, but it’s been years, 9 years to be exact, geez I feel old and it’s essentially the same thing, you have to act natural even though it’s not, you have to remember where to move and when to move all the while playing (or speaking).

I never thought I would enjoy acting because of my stage fright (and its extreme) so I stayed away from it. But step one is done (the memorization) and  step two performance within an hour or so I increased my knowledge and confidence in myself in performing. (Which I have absolutely no experience in at all) I just have to keep that confidence when I get in front of the students we’re performing for. I have confidence that I can do it!

 

2-      How to write dialogue in stage play/screenplay

Some people would think it is easy. But it is much much harder than it sounds if you’ve never tried it before.  Again as this semester is my “try new things” semester” I wanted to try it out and at least learn how to do it. Even though I don’t have theater background, I do want to write and many writers turn their novels into movies/TV shows, so I at least wanted to learn how to do it so I would know when the time comes to turn my bestseller into a movie. Right? What I learned is it is hard to make dialogue seem natural and not forced and that’s what I’ve been struggling with, and you can’t use a lot of dialogue to explain everything, there has to be actions to cause the conflict etc.. This is the hardest part. You cannot write like in a novel. I gotta say it’s a work in progress and I’m going to keep working on my plays even after the class is over. 

3-      How to design a page

It sounds simple, right? WRONG! Well I had to read forty pages on how to design a page, and the mathematics involved in doing so correctly, not fun, in a poets voice, sound complicated yet?…. Have you ever heard of typography? If not, don’t feel bad, I didn’t know this course focused on typography (letter design). There aren’t many people who seriously think about which font to use when writing a paper, so that the font can be clearly read. What I’ve learned is that the letters don’t have to be a dog to say dog. You can use a simple font to do that. The reason I took the course was to have some background in designing in case I ever get a job at a magazine or newspaper, I would know how to design a page in the best possible way.  Our last project is a newsletter about ourselves. It combines all the elements of the page we have learned from the margins to the type style, the spacing with the letter, etc.. It’s not easy to keep all of these elements in mind at the same time while trying to present something about yourself.

While none of these classes were as “easy” as I originally thought, I think that it was good for me, I haven’t been very challenged (except for Chemistry) in college until now and I’ve struggled and I think I came out on top, taking so many new concepts with me for my future career, whatever I may decide to do.

(found this on a search, I think it applies here!)

Going into my senior year, that's what my motto will be!