End of Term

 Hello again! This will be my last blog entry for a little while. Tomorrow is the last day of classes. After that, we have two days called reading days set aside for studying. Then, finals begin. After finals, I’ll be staying at my friend Sully’s house for a couple days before we road-trip back home to California for winter break. Next semester, I’m going to be studying abroad in Australia, and although I may fill you in on how the semester’s going about halfway through, I won’t be posting regularly.

I have two in-class written finals as well as the final presentation of my acting scene. I also have to edit and turn in my final portfolio for my fiction writing class. Besides that, I’m basically done. It feels like my workload was weighted more towards the three-quarter mark in the semester than at the end. My finals schedule doesn’t look bad at all, especially when you consider that I’m going to be studying for my Shakespeare final exam by doing a marathon of all the films of the plays we read.

Speaking of Shakespeare, Sully, my roommate Sara, and I all went downtown last Sunday to see Coriolanus. It was a screening of National Theatre Live’s production starring Tom Hiddleston. Alfred Enoch was in it too, and Mark Gatiss. It was a truly incredible experience. In terms of visual setting, the performance struck this weird balance between minimalism and spectacle. The stage was very bare, except for a tall ladder leading up a graffitied wall. But the movement on that minimal stage involved stage combat, throwing chairs, water, pyrotechnics, and lots of fake blood. The acting was great, except for one of Coriolanus’ final monologues, which felt a little flat to me. But overall, the actors made me experience the characters in a totally new and unprecedented way. The man who played Brutus was really good in that he was completely horrible. I thoroughly enjoyed hating that character. I didn’t realize how much I cared about this play just reading it for class. I may have analyzed the characters in my papers and in class discussions, but I didn’t truly know them until I saw them depicted like this. I’m so glad I got to see this performance. It complements what I do in class as well as being entertaining and wonderful in its own right. The best part is that it counted as studying for finals! It should help me remember the plot and characters for my Shakespeare exam.

Here's a photo I took on the walk to the theatre where we watched the screening. I'm on a bridge over the Willamette River.


And here's another photo of Sully and Sara at the sushi restaurant we went to beforehand!



I could talk about that show for ages, but I’d better swing back to my on-campus activities now. Last weekend, I went to see Dance Extravaganza, which was really cool. Commonly called Dance X, it is a series of dances choreographed and performed by LC students. I signed up to be an usher for the performance, so I got a free ticket. Tonight, I’m going to the performance of a play I wrote, which I’m really stoked for. It’s the final project for my theatre and society class. I also have my last shift working at the Writing Center. Finally, I’m excited for Watzek Recess. During the reading days, there are snacks, coffee, massages, therapy dogs, coloring books, Disney movies and more in the library. It’s always worth stopping by.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I hope everyone has a good holiday season!

Best,


Jess