Tag Archive | Victory Mimosa

Starting Week 2, Winter Term Edition

Here I am!  Back at it and boy did I let my bi-weekly posts slip by around Week 8 last term.

Well a new term, new year, and a lot of new stuff happening in my schedule.  I realized today that  I am taking a total of 7 classes!  Eep!  Credits total to 16 and a of the are a Pass/No Pass class but I may have bitten off more than I can chew once I add in travel time, sleep, and 20hrs/wk of work.  The best thing I may have done for myself today was to draft a Master Timeline for all readings and assignments.  Not only did I write then on paper but I used a Google app called Keep.  What I love about this app is that I can create lists or add notes and it will give me reminders.  So I added about 8 different lists onto the Keep site via my Google account and I will get notifications to my phone!  Being on top of assignments and readings this term is really important to me as I did not get straight As last term and I want to earn every A I can get from here on out.

So on the roster this term is Performing Arts Management, Internship 1 (bleh 8:30am), Research Methodology, Grant Proposal Writing, Marketing|Media|Communications 2.0, Water Fitness 1, and Jazz 1!  Getting into shape both physcially and mentally!  I got to be ready to go for Color Me Rad in April and Grapes of Half (5K) in May.  No more slouchy Emily, new fit shiny Emily!!!

This is it for now!  Hopefully a well earned Victory Mimosa is on it’s way this week, otherwise it may have to wait until next payday.

Ciao!

Starting Week 7

“No rest for the wicked,” as the saying goes.

I am beginning to see the outcomes of some choices I have made in the last week or two and I am not pleased with myself.  I have not been fair to others and most importantly, I have not been fair to myself and being diligent to schedule time for school work and personal time.

What I want to do now is get back on track and to not focus on the end being nigh as that is not my goal.  My goal is to complete my first term of graduate school feeling as though I am putting out good work and being acknowledged for it.  As of this morning, I have not put out my best work and I have seen its affect and will not allow for it to happen again.

I will make my time be like the full time job I had to ensure no more sliding back and making the best of my situations as conplaintency is not my friend and it must be unfriended!

Now for an early week Victory Mimosa to motivate me to conquer this week and be stronger for Week 8!

End of Week 6

I feel this is the point where I start to see the end of term and my to do list for final projects begins to make me panic.  The feeling is more of being underwhelmed rather than overwhelmed because on some level I want to throw my hands up and just let others take over as I feel I cannot contribute or if I do that I am needing others to give input and I feel I am not receiving it in a timely fashion.  I do realize I set unrealistic standards and some of my failings are to due to poor communication.  What do I do now to work towards feeling less underwhelmed and more successful?

To start myself on the right foot again, getting some reading done will help and making sure I have set aside the time to do it.  This weekend has gotten packed with local activities, housesitting, working the I & You show, homework, play reading, and dealing with my car being in the shop and not having enough funds to cover this emergency expense.  I can see where I am getting anxious as I was to complish everything and do it well, be everywhere and make myself and others happy but am I doing justice to anyone in the end?  There are TV shows I want to catch up on but they play at times where I have to be working and are they really important?  (To me they are as they help me escape.)  I have a group project and our team wants to meet but when and where has gotten complicated as our schedules are all over the place and I feel I complicate it with all of the other things I have agreed to do.  Where do I cut back?  I have entrenched myself somewhere and I do not always know how to get out or make sure I am prioritizing my projects correctly.  Ehhh…

Hoping for more productivity in Week 7 and to set a schedule for my new job with University Theatre, I like consistancy and predictability, not knowing when things will happen makes me batty.  An early Victory Mimosa may be in order.

Ending Week 5

Victory Mimosa!

Now that I am officially halfway through this term a celebration of sorts has to happen.  First there was the email from UO Theatre Department informing me that they want me to join their team.  I am now the University Theatre House Manager/Marketing Assistant!!  Yay!!

Second, my Ulitmate Victory Mimosa (see link above to my Instagram account) and thirdly, Chai Spiced Cheesecake from Sweet Life!  And I left the Gem Faire without buying anything, so I am incredibly proud of myself.

Other things to celebrate…figuring out to vector images and use the Add Anchor Tool.  I was starting to feel behind and overwhelmed in my AAD 610 but after working with Eric and John, I understand it better and have been able to replicate the process outside of class.  I feel determined to have a really inviting and refreshed brand for Free Shakespeare in the Park but I do not want to get too obsessed with it as there is still much more to do!

Next week appears to be getting busy but at least one of my anxities this term has been quelled with getting the part-time job.  Onwards and upwards though!

Starting Week 4

The first three weeks of school have flown by and I am now starting to feel more like myself and finding my way around campus and school work.  I had a really great workshop on Friday with the Graduate School on Speed Reading and I hope to take their next workshop on Time Management, downside is I have group work meetings at the same day and time as the workshop!  Oops!  Plus, trying to get ready for a dance performance with school work and finding part time work has had some serious side effects.  Dishes not getting down, scrambling to fit in hundreds of pages of reading (I will catch up though thanks to the speed reading workshop), and not feeling like I am taking care of myself.  Late nights sewing were not what I had in mind for doing a 3 and half minute dance, but there is an upside to all of this.

My performance yesterday at the Middle Eastern Dance Guild of Eugene’s Fall Festival resulted in the audience clapping along to our music and then individuals from the audience would stop and say how much they enjoyed it.  Results of this performance were really pretty dance outfit, not messing up on the foot work (ok, maybe a little), performing with little food on my stomach and too much caffeine, and doing all of this in a two-piece costume!!  (Super body confidence powers activate!)

I hope to have photos or videos to post soon since I want to share my performance with my cohort, because the Universe decided that all the really cool things I want to do with my cohort have to happen the same weekend I have committed myself to another event.  While the Classes of 2015 and 2016 were having their talent showcase, I was dancing and stage managing, easiest stage managing gig to date, but having to chose between building new relationships with people I am spending a lot of time with or doing something I have been desperately wanting to do since 2005/2006, well….I stuck with the latter rather than the former.  Opportunities to perform the routine in the future may happen, but no more last minute sewing!  Too much stress, not always feeling rested, and not doing myself any justice by not doing my readings and school work.

A year ago I started the AAD application process and fretted if I would get in, now being in this program is so monumental to me as I never thought of myself as smart enough to earn a Masters degree.  In hindsight, it’s not about smarts, but about drive and finding that goal in life and doing whatever it takes to achieve it.  I may have cheated myself on expanding my network with AAD Alums this weekend, as I was unable to participate in a number of events, but being able to do something which I never thought possible because of how I look is really empowering.  I danced in front of people I do not know in a skirt and bra!!!  What?!?!  I know, right!  I did it and did the dance with lots of happiness in my soul because it is a great song and that no one was there to hate on dancers’ bodies, they were there to celebrate it!  This feeling of empowerment is what is driving me to pursue a Masters in Arts & Administration, or possibly use my degree as a vehicle for working with organizations that have mission to empower girls and women to appreciate and respect their bodies or being able to assist our veterans who struggle with PTSD.

So now that I have the dance performance behind me, I can start focusing on my school work and getting a part-time job because I am getting nervous that I will not be able to pull my weight on bills.  An opportunity to work at Oregon Contemporary Theatre has presented itself and I will be doing that for the next two weekends and I am excited to be around theatre people, they are my kind of crazy.  :-)

Ciao until we meet again!  Keep following my course work postings to see what I am learning and I will see you at Week 5 (Victory Mimosa is coming).