IMPROVISE, ADAPT, OVERCOME
FINDING YOUR FOOTING (Description)
When starting any new endeavour in life, there will be challenges and obstacles thrown your way. Some obstacles may be smaller and easier to get across, others may require improvisation and adaptation to overcome them. When beginning my work placement journey, I was filled both anxiety and excitement as to what I was going to be met with. It was, of course, an extremely rewarding experience where I developed skills I had and discovered skills I never knew I could achieve, such as my organisation and time-management skills, but making a discovery of skills I possessed in a more formal setting such as meetings. But with these rewards, there were challenges alongside them. It is important to recognise a challenge as it arises as you must be able to get the most out of work placement as possible as it can supplement “the primary experiences of academic major and the general development of cognitive capacities and academic skills.”[1] The more challenging aspect that my smaller obstacles branched off was essentially fitting in to a completely new work environment, and therefore finding my footing so that I could show off my skills to the utmost potential. Throughout this blog I will be reflecting on these challenges, I will be using Gibb’s Reflective Cycle to do so as; “It is from the feeling and thoughts emerging from this reflection that generalisations and concepts can be created.”[2] Therefore, by using this reflective mode, I can understand what I have learnt from these experiences and carry them forward in my next personal and/or work-based endeavour.
STARTING TO FALL (Feelings)
When beginning my work placement in The Mac Theatre in the creative learning sector, I was catapulted into an entirely different work atmosphere than I am used to. Having the same job since I was sixteen has arguably made me slightly sheltered in terms of the “adult” world. But I knew that it was going to be different from the offset. Choosing to enter the world of the theatre is a challenge as there are so many different sectors and departments required to ensure a theatre runs smoothly. The sector was something completely out of my comfort zone and something I had never tackled before; it was the Creative Learning department. Before I even began, I knew I would struggle as it was all so new to me, this was a toxic attitude to have – I focused too much on not fitting in that I forgot about what the experience was all about – to learn. I, therefore, recognised that I needed to have a more positive mentality and reminded myself that there are hundreds of theatre careers, designed for people “who are educated, trained, and eager to begin at the beginning.”[3] I knew that I was eager and educated, I just had to remind myself that I was, in-fact, ready for be trained. With this being said, I was somewhat naive in a sense as I was unaware of what felt like a tonne of bricks, was about to hit me. Being thrown straight into the deep end of meetings, stage management set-up, art exhibition and much more unfamiliar territory. It was daunting and took me by surprise, but through reflection and consideration of what I achieved, it has proven to be extremely gratifying.
FEEL LIKE YOU’VE FALLEN? (Evaluation and Description)
There was one specific week during my placement that I took record of as being one of more stressful weeks. My organisational skills, time-management skills, adaptability, and emotional capacity were all put to the test this week. The week began with back-to-back meetings with people both inside, and outside The MAC. I firstly began by being shown how the General Manager prepares for the show that will take place in the evening, the GM “handles the day-to-day business for a specific production that may include negotiating contracts, administering, and supervising financial procedures including banking, preparing budgets, paying bills, and supervising ticket sales,”[4] so whilst this was all new and overwhelming, it was something I caught on fairly easily with and was able to offer my time to assist with this on future occurrences. The next meeting was with Lucy McCullagh of the Ulster Orchestra, we spoke about various inciteful opportunities on how The MAC and Ulster Orchestra could collaborate more, perhaps through activism, education, and social issues, as theatre and music can give support to people of all ages. It was extremely rewarding to see this behind-the-scenes aspect of the running on the theatre. Already conduct and composure in a formal meeting setting were being developed and I was inputting more than I was at the beginning of the placement which was interesting to notice. On top of the meetings, I also had independent control over the Family Room, which was a place where kids, who were visiting The Mac through school visits or with their families, could go and draw posters based on the ideas around lack of social housing in Belfast, as mentioned in my first blog. At the end of this busy week there was an art exhibition opening in collaboration with an artist from Vault Studios, the piece was focussing on the psychological impact of breast cancer, “Naomi Connor was propelled to build the confidence of women.”[5] Casts of over fifteen different women bodies were made all displaying the different effects breast cancer can have on different women. This week enhanced many skills of mine such as communication, independent research, initiative, but also enhanced my knowledge on how important collaboration is in the arts and how we can all come together to create something poignant and impactful.
PICKING YOURSELF OFF THE GROUND (Conclusion and Action Plan)
Whilst this week was extremely worthwhile, it was profoundly difficult as on top of these new, wonderful, but challenging tasks, I was also juggling looming deadlines and rehearsals alongside it. I had to remind myself on the important of balance, as Mr Miyagi instructs; “You remember lesson about balance? Lesson for whole life. Whole life will have balance.”[6] In remembering this, I made sure my time was divided up more rigidly than before so as I could fit placement work, university work, and personal time in the one schedule. This helped me lower my stress levels and therefore recognise the strengths I gained from having this demanding week. Above all else, the week taught me how different working in a theatre was compared to what I had anticipated, “the ‘creative’ sector has morphed into new definitions of creativity, cultural economics, and intellectual property.”[7] In learning this I can carry the significant knowledge of the importance of collaboration into my university work and my part-time job. A great token of appreciation for my hard work I received from The Mac, was a job offer! I was given a casual contract to help out anytime I was available, particularly in front of house.
[1] H. Bradley Sagen, Jerald W. Dallam and John R. Laverty, “Job Search Techniques as Employment Channels: Differential Effects on The Initial Employment Success of College Graduates”, The Career Development Quarterly, Vol.48, No.1, (1999), p.753.
[2] Graham Gibbs. Learning by doing. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Brookes University, 1988.\
[3] Tim Donahue, Theatre Careers: A Realistic Guide (USA: University of South Carolina Press, 2012), p.34.
[4] Tim Donahue, Theatre Careers: A Realistic Guide (USA: University of South Carolina Press, 2012), p.14.
[5] “The MAC’s Projects in Support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month”, Themaclive.Com, 2022 <https://themaclive.com/about-us/news/the-macs-projects-in-support-of-breast-cancer-awareness-month> [Accessed 9 March 2022].
[6] John G Avildsen, The Karate Kid (California: Columbia Pictures, 2022).
[7] Lori Wagner, “Entrepreneurship in The Creative Industries: An International Perspective”, New England Journal of Entrepreneurship, Vol.14, No.1, (2011), pp.89-92.
FIRST THREE IMAGES MADE ON CANVA BY MYSELF.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Avildsen, J.G. The Karate Kid (California: Columbia Pictures, 2022).
Donahue, T. Theatre Careers: A Realistic Guide (USA: University of South Carolina Press, 2012).
Gibbs. G. Learning by doing. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Brookes University, 1988.
Sagen, H.B, Dallam, J.W and Laverty, J.R. “Job Search Techniques as Employment Channels: Differential Effects on The Initial Employment Success of College Graduates”, The Career Development Quarterly, Vol.48, No.1, (1999).
The MAC’s Projects in Support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Themaclive.Com, 2022 <https://themaclive.com/about-us/news/the-macs-projects-in-support-of-breast-cancer-awareness-month> [Accessed 9 March 2022].
Wagner, L. “Entrepreneurship in The Creative Industries: An International Perspective”, New England Journal of Entrepreneurship, Vol.14, No.1, (2011).
