{"id":1910,"date":"2023-11-17T16:44:30","date_gmt":"2023-11-17T16:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/?p=1910"},"modified":"2023-11-17T16:49:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T16:49:36","slug":"the-waiting-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/2023\/11\/17\/the-waiting-game\/","title":{"rendered":"The waiting game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the beginning of my search to my first week of placement, waiting has been a key theme throughout the entire experience. In order to recount my placement experience, I will be using Gibbs\u2019 reflective cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not sufficient simply to have an experience in order to learn. Without reflecting upon this experience, it may quickly be forgotten, or its learning potential lost<\/em><\/p>G. Gibbs, 1998<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gibbs\u2019 reflective cycle encourages a clear description, analysis of a situation, and examines what one would do should the situation happen again. (Jasper, 2003) This cycle includes: describing what happened, explaining what you were thinking and feeling, evaluating the experience, analysing what you could have done better, coming to a conclusion on what you could\u2019ve done, and finally, making an action plan so that if it happens again in the future, you will be ready to tackle the problem in a more beneficial manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting my placement <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it became time to search for placements, I applied for everywhere I thought I could make an impact. My priority was on set experience above anything else. It was really the only thing that mattered to me about my placement. I didn\u2019t want to be stuck doing something that I knew that I wasn\u2019t going to do in the future. However, as time went on, I realised that I wasn\u2019t getting replies back from any of my hopeful placements, and if I did get a reply, it wasn\u2019t the reply I was looking for. I ended up only getting one accepted placement: The Belfast Ensemble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During this entire experience, I felt really discouraged. With my experience going into 3rd<\/sup> Year, I was expecting to be able to choose where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, but in the end, it was the exact opposite. I went months without a reply and even went as far as to thinking about other classes to take or which subject I would do my dissertation on if I couldn\u2019t secure a placement. Luckily, at the last moment, I was able to get one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evaluating my placement search, I think that it was generally a disappointment that I wasn\u2019t able to secure a placement in my field because I think that my skill set is very valuable and rare for a student to have. However, because of this disappointment, I was able to realise that I can\u2019t have an ego when going into this sort of thing. There are lots of contributing factors and technical skills may only be a small portion of what people are looking for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also taught me to not be complacent; that I can always be better. When thinking about this from an analytical point of view, I learned that things aren\u2019t given based on how you view yourself. Other people don\u2019t know you the way that you know yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel like I could have done more in terms of searching for placements that would be interested in having me. I practically gave up whenever I realised things weren\u2019t going my way and I am lucky to have got the placement I have now. I stopped applying to places. I should have continued, even if it wasn\u2019t going well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the future, if the same problem happens when trying to find a job in the media space, I will remember that it is a very competitive market and that I shouldn\u2019t be disappointed if the initial crop of jobs I apply to don\u2019t accept me. I will remember that I\u2019m only losing whenever I begin to write myself off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After securing my placement\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first got the e-mail saying that The Belfast Ensemble wanted me as a trainee, I accepted the placement immediately without a second thought. Although it wasn\u2019t a placement in the exact field, I see myself working in, it was a placement that involved getting more production experience, and that\u2019s what matters to me the most. Though, as soon as I was confirmed for my placement, I didn\u2019t hear back from them for a number of weeks other than the fact that I would eventually be needed and until then, I just had to wait. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Headless Soldier rehearsal photographs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning, I experienced a lot of excitement. However, as time went on and contact becoming increasingly more sporadic, I felt insecure in my place. After a few weeks, I thought that I might need to find another placement or do a dissertation after all. Though, all of this got easier once I realised that there were a lot of people in the same position as me and that I wasn\u2019t falling behind everyone else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I evaluate this period of my placement so far, I think that I should be happy that I got a placement. It was the main thing that I was worried about all summer, but sadly, I couldn\u2019t relieve those worries because my placement still felt up in the air until a week or two ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that this was another lesson in the fact that patience is sometimes all you need, and that I should trust people more whenever they say that things will happen. In terms of things I could\u2019ve done in this situation, I believe I could\u2019ve reached out sooner than I did to get any information or iron out any worries that I had. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If something like this happens again, I will remind myself not to panic, to be patient, and to reach out if something is truly bothering me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally starting my placement\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was finally needed for my placement, I went to the rehearsal room and met everyone involved. For the first session, I just watched for the little time I had. The next session I had was in the theatre. Again, I was mostly observing and asking questions whenever I had them. I was given a rundown through all of the equipment they have and how they use it because they realised that I was interested in the technical side of things. For most of the production, I was involved with the AV and lighting side of things, not so much on the stage. A lot of this involved the projections that the show was using. Sadly, I didn\u2019t get to go to the actual shows because of work and other university requirements but I am looking forward to getting to work on the actual show next time around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I felt that the entire experience was hectic yet magical. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Everything was interesting and there wasn\u2019t a single moment where I wondered why I was working on an opera. It was mostly observational but that is okay because I was able to fully take in what was going on around me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When evaluating my experience, I was very happy because I got on set production! I was able to learn a lot about an industry I admittedly had no idea about. However, looking back, I wish that I had been given more to do. I\u2019m not upset about it though because it was an entirely new experience with new people which helped me develop a new way of thinking of opera and theatre in general. I didn\u2019t realise how much went into them on a technical level and how fast these productions need to be turned around from concept, to planning, to production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I think about what else could I have done, I think that I could have asked more questions and put myself out there to do more. I feel like I took a more reserved approach and that might have made people think that I wasn\u2019t eager to do more than I was already doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this happens for the next production, I will make sure that I get myself more involved. I will show a more confident side of myself and ask if there is anything that I can help with because I am now more familiar with the people running the show and with the work they are doing. I feel like I have done enough observation to now be a valuable presence on stage whenever I am needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although things got off to a rocky start with finding a placement and then getting time to work on the project, I am very happy with the outcome. I can see myself getting much more interested in opera and theatre in general and I could even see myself working in the AV role if my current plans don\u2019t work out for me. I am very excited for the future of my placement and I can\u2019t wait until the next opportunity arises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIBLIOGRAPHY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jasper, M., 2003. Beginning reflective practice. Nelson Thornes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gibbs, G., 1988. Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the beginning of my search to my first week of placement, waiting has been a key theme throughout the entire experience. In order to recount my placement experience, I will be using Gibbs\u2019 reflective cycle. It is not sufficient simply to have an experience in order to learn. Without reflecting upon this experience, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1st-blog-post"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1387"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1910"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1932,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1910\/revisions\/1932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}