Internship! Hurrary!
I am completely giddy after my meeting this afternoon with the costume director at UT. When I left the interview I was practically skipping towards my car, and I was completely out of breath by the time I finished telling my mom every detail, from the questions she asked to the books in her office. So this may be long and boring, but I feel so great, I want to tell everyone how excited I am!
When I got to the building, I was totally freaked out, because it's several halls that all connect to this weird open area in the middle, and I had no idea where to go. I waited outside her office for a few minutes because I could hear that she had someone else in there with her and she was on the phone. Eventually, I got up my courage and knocked on the door, that was half open. She and her friend both immediately reminded me of my boss Suzanne. They had that Austin hippie, professor, I sit in a comfortable offic all day so I can wear goofy linen pants, kind of look, complete with the long grey hair pulled back with a clip. She started right in asking me about LASA and then asked about my experience. She was shocked that I had prepared a resume, and the first thing she said after looking at it was "You work at Hill Country Weavers? We love that place!" I was much less intimidated after that, even though it was scary when she started grilling me on my sewing abilities and theatre experience. The most terrifying question was "So what is it about costume design that grabs you?" But I think I handled it relatively well. After that she dove right into explaining a possible schedule, which three productions were taking place next fall, the classes that are going on at the time, the professors and grad students I should meet with, and how all the costume shop people would become "dependent" on my assistance at tech rehearsals. With her friend, she finally decided that the best show for me would be The Way of the World, a 17th century piece complete with wigs and funny shoes and all (And if I worked on it, I'd get to do a bunch of research and attend the costuming boot camp on that time period! And that means going to my favorite place and spending hours photocopying out of cool old books!). So my schedule would be this: Tues, assist students in the costume shop, Wed, attend a three hour costume design class where I would "learn how to talk about my work," Thurs, be a tech runner for the production, Mon night, attend tech rehearsals and be a runner.
Besides completing a portfolio of costume designs for an entire show as my possible senior project, perhaps the most exciting part was the idea of a built in college/portfolio consultant as well as reccomendation resource. The grad students are from schools all over the country, and she seemed to think that they would be an invaluable source of advice, good and bad.
All in all, I'm ridiculously excited. I feel like a real college student. This is more hands on experience than an undergrad might get in their first year, just becuse I'm working with grad students!
Hurray for internships and nice adults who are willing to do a bunch of paperwork and work with a student younger than anyone they've worked with before just so that I can learn about this trade!
Hurray for costumes and the 17th century!
Hurray for feeling not quite as hopeless about getting into a good college and having a good portfolio!
Hurray for an excuse to use the fine arts library!
And hurray for powdered wigs and silly shoes!
When I got to the building, I was totally freaked out, because it's several halls that all connect to this weird open area in the middle, and I had no idea where to go. I waited outside her office for a few minutes because I could hear that she had someone else in there with her and she was on the phone. Eventually, I got up my courage and knocked on the door, that was half open. She and her friend both immediately reminded me of my boss Suzanne. They had that Austin hippie, professor, I sit in a comfortable offic all day so I can wear goofy linen pants, kind of look, complete with the long grey hair pulled back with a clip. She started right in asking me about LASA and then asked about my experience. She was shocked that I had prepared a resume, and the first thing she said after looking at it was "You work at Hill Country Weavers? We love that place!" I was much less intimidated after that, even though it was scary when she started grilling me on my sewing abilities and theatre experience. The most terrifying question was "So what is it about costume design that grabs you?" But I think I handled it relatively well. After that she dove right into explaining a possible schedule, which three productions were taking place next fall, the classes that are going on at the time, the professors and grad students I should meet with, and how all the costume shop people would become "dependent" on my assistance at tech rehearsals. With her friend, she finally decided that the best show for me would be The Way of the World, a 17th century piece complete with wigs and funny shoes and all (And if I worked on it, I'd get to do a bunch of research and attend the costuming boot camp on that time period! And that means going to my favorite place and spending hours photocopying out of cool old books!). So my schedule would be this: Tues, assist students in the costume shop, Wed, attend a three hour costume design class where I would "learn how to talk about my work," Thurs, be a tech runner for the production, Mon night, attend tech rehearsals and be a runner.
Besides completing a portfolio of costume designs for an entire show as my possible senior project, perhaps the most exciting part was the idea of a built in college/portfolio consultant as well as reccomendation resource. The grad students are from schools all over the country, and she seemed to think that they would be an invaluable source of advice, good and bad.
All in all, I'm ridiculously excited. I feel like a real college student. This is more hands on experience than an undergrad might get in their first year, just becuse I'm working with grad students!
Hurray for internships and nice adults who are willing to do a bunch of paperwork and work with a student younger than anyone they've worked with before just so that I can learn about this trade!
Hurray for costumes and the 17th century!
Hurray for feeling not quite as hopeless about getting into a good college and having a good portfolio!
Hurray for an excuse to use the fine arts library!
And hurray for powdered wigs and silly shoes!