A Quick Review Of My Life This Past Year

Some of you have probably noticed that I haven't been up to date with my posts on my blog. This has probably been frustrating for you because I know you've all been dying to know what I've been up to this past year.

Well, stop your fretting cause right now, for your benefit, I will give a quick review of my doings this past year.

• Dial M for Murder - After I came home from London I basically had to jump in right away into stage managing BYU's Production of Dial M for Murder, written by Fredrick Knotts. It was a really great experience. It pushed me as a stage manger (I had over 300 cues to call). I had the chance to use the revolving stage in the Pardoe theater at BYU. It really was a great (yet stressful) experience.

• The Belle of Amherst - While I was stage managing I was working on my senior directing project. I knew I wanted to pick a show that had a small cast, was easy to cut, and I was passionate about. I have always loved Emily Dickinson's poetry and in high school I had seen a movie of the play The Belle of Amherst, written by William Luce, which is a one woman show about Emily Dickinson's life. I decided that because of school, work, and Dial M that I needed to keep the work load of my play light. So I chose to do The Belle of Amherst. I asked one of the secretaries in the Theatre office, Elizabeth Funk, to play Emily. It was a really good production. I was very pleased with the look and feel of it. Of course there are things I would have liked to change but overall it was good. It was a very enlightening and growing experience for me.

• Poland - The first week of December 08 I had the opportunity to accompany George Nelson, a theatre education professor at BYU, to Warsaw, Poland. We went over there to work with various education and theatre groups. It was awesome! I made many friends, learned some polish, and basically feel in love with Poland. I loved it so much that I was making plans to move there. I can't wait to go back and visit.

• Student Teaching - From January to April, I student taught theatre and film at Riverton High School in South Jordan, Utah. It was seriously a life changing experience. It was hard and frustrating but it help me see that I have a passion to teach and that I love theatre. It reaffirmed that I was graduating in the right major. I love that school.

• Antigone - While at Riverton High School, I was asked to direct the Regional and State competition piece, Antigone. It was a great production (if I say so myself). I was really proud of the acting abilities of my students. At Region, we got straight superiors, which is the highest you can get. At State, we got one superior and two excellents. I was sad about the outcome of state but the students put a lot of work into it and I was just so proud that it really was a great production.

• Graduation - Just a couple weeks ago, I officially graduated from Brigham Young University in Theatre Arts Education. I didn't really want to walk in the graduation but I promised my parents I would. So Marshall, JC, Mom, and I drove up to Provo (my Dad flew) for graduation. Kohl and his wife, Chris, where up there already so they met up with us for my commencement ceremony. I'm glad I walked because it made the idea of graduating real for me and it gave me the chance to celebrate. I also enjoyed catching up with friends and the people I love. I'm really glad I've graduated but I will miss the friends that are still there.

So there you go. My life this past year. I hope I can continue to post on my blog and to keep you all informed but I guess we'll have to see what life brings.....right? :)
Thanks for reading.

Living and TEACHING in St. George, Utah!

So after a summer of filling out job applications, rewriting my resume five or six times, interviewing with several different principals, and getting over a thousand "stress" zits, I finally get a job offer at a brand new charter school in St. George, Utah. The only problem is that its an elementary school. I have only taught at Jr high and high school levels. I am not experienced in teaching at an elementary level. I wasn't too keen on taking the job but to be honest it was my only offer and the school year was starting, so I needed to make a choice, asap.
What do you do when you need to make a life-altering decision in a limited amount of time?......pray about it. So I did and I knew right way that I needed to take the job and move to St. George.
I've now been here for almost a month and a half. I just moved into an really cool, really expensive, apartment. I currently have no furniture but its nice to have my own place.
I love the town, I love my ward, I love the friends that I have here and most of all I LOVE TEACHING AT THIS SCHOOL. It is hard and I've had to make some major adjustments to my teaching style, but I do love it. It has its ups and downs being a brand new school but the overall experience has been amazing. I get to work with one of my coolest friends(I heart you, Brit), I also get to see Tuacahn shows, do day trips to Vegas, and I'm only 6 hours away from the family. I also think St. George is one of the pretty places in the southwest.
So far its seems like the place I need to be. I just hope that the next year here will be as amazing as this past month has been. :)