Some Grad School (And Undergrad Too) Stuff

I'll start with some slightly frustrating undergrad news: while I had been hoping that I'd be able to work things out otherwise it appears that, rather than being able to receive my degree by Spring (or even Winter) 2012, I will almost certainly be finishing in the Spring of 2013. I'll be adjusting my resume accordingly within the next week or so. It's a question of getting all my minor requirements and some of my missing core classes completed. But that's okay. I love UAF and Fairbanks and all. After all, I plan on making this place my "base of operations" from now on so....

Now on to less frustrating and still in process news/items: while working the Mycology Society conference here on campus, I had the chance to speak with a biologist who is a retired professor at the University Of Kansas: Lawrence. It was a very pleasant talk about various things including theatre and afterward I decided, sort of on a whim, to take a look at the graduate program in theatre at UK:L. And I was sort of surprised and pleased and impressed all at once. You see, the program there does not separate into scenic, costume, lighting and tech direction. Rather it is a scenographic degree much like one might find in Europe. As someone who has long described myself as a "theatrical generalist" and who has as one of his favorite quotes the Robert Heinlein statement "Specialization is for insects" I kind of like the idea of having to do designs in multiple areas while in grad school. So I will be adding UK:L to my potential schools list, along with University Of IL: Urbana-Champaign and some of the various other URTA schools. I will definitely still (if I can arrange it) go to the URTA session(s). And continue to research and seek suggestions about potential schools and programs too. So if anyone has any suggestions or comments please let me know. Since, as I mentioned above, I will most likely not be entering grad school till the Fall of 2013 and so I have some time to work through things. And yes, I suppose that some folks may think "why start so soon?" And my answer would be, with potentially needing to take the GRE's (depending on what the schools ask for...many don't for theatre but some might) and scheduling for the URTA's and possible campus visits and interviews and.....well, you get the idea.

So....anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?