First Blog Post; First Week at School.
Hi, and welcome to my first blog post. You may find that until I get the hang of this, I will rant, get off topic, and things may be a little unorganized; but I’ll try my best to keep this from happening :)
This week was my first week of classes at TITAN Teaterskole. Let’s start with saying: I had a great week and I’m very excited for what’s coming my way this year. Not only does this start my formal education in theater (something I’ve been dreaming of since I was 7) but it marks the start of a life here in Oslo that really is my own. Not to say that I haven’t been enjoying my time here leading up to school, or that I don’t absolutely love the friends I have made so far; but I finally feel like I have something that is my own, that I am doing for myself. I look at my life here now and realize I’m going to school, I have a job, I’m meeting new people and making new friends everyday; and for a while I thought I would never get any of these things. The visa process was taking so long, and I was getting so used to staying home and being the housewife everyday that the image of me having a “real life” here was getting more and more blurred. TITAN is very important to me in that sense, and many others.
My first week I’ve already learned so much; and I am fascinated with my fellow classmates and the stories they’re bringing with them to TITAN. Everyone has a different background and levels of experience, and I think that’s fantastic. Everyone has been incredibly nice, and I am looking forward to working with a lot of different people.
The classes I’m taking are: Theater History, Acting, Studio Lab, Voice, Speech, Entrepreneurship, Actor’s Body/Movement, Myth and Symbol, Improvisation, D.A.T, and Acting for the Camera. I have 3 classes a day, 5 days a week. Everything we’ve done so far has been new to me, which I am happy for. In high school and community theater you do learn a lot, and I am grateful for my experiences, but I am excited that this year will be a challenge. Hopefully at the end I will feel that I have grown as an actor, and accomplished something. So far the thing they’re teaching at the school that I really like is learning to be in the present, which is very hard for me. I find that my mind wanders constantly, and I tend to worry about small things quite often. I hope that this training will help me get over that, so I can focus on the “here and now” and therefore open up my mind to all kinds of new ideas and perspectives.
Another challenge facing me is that of my own body. Two days a week we will be doing an intense hour and a half of yoga. This class has shattered my self-image of how flexible and seasoned I was in yoga, but I am really looking forward to it (no matter how sore I am the next day). Yoga teaches discipline as well as peace and calmness; flexibility and strength, not just physically but mentally. This class will work our bodies, and our minds.
I’m looking at this upcoming year with optimism, as well as a thick skin. I know it will be hard working with new people, being exhausted, pushing myself as an actor, writing (which I think will be my biggest obstacle), and making things happen myself. But I’m looking forward to all of it, because ultimately I know that this is what I am meant to do, and this education will make me better prepared for my journey. I’m looking forward to creating relationships with new people, exploring myself as an actor, and being on stage again. This year will be the start of a new life for me; as we’re learning in my Myth and Symbol class, I have just escaped the “Belly of the Beast”, and have had a rebirth; but I know what’s next, and I’m trying to prepare myself best for it. This is an adventure I’ve been anxiously anticipating, and I’m going to make the most of it.
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