Finished internship, check. Cap & gown, check. Graduation pictures, check check check! Looking for a job, that’s the longest check ever!

Yep, after 18 years, yes that’s right I said 18, I am finally done with school! It’s becoming real, and yet it’s surreal at the same time? Does that make sense or have I just confused you? It is hitting me that soon I’ll have no more papers to write, no more school-related stress and no more frustration over parking. O yes, these things I will never miss!

Graduation is fast approaching and as I plan that weekend in my head with my graduation and grad parties I want to attend, I try not to worry about not having a job lined up.

Yes, this thought scares me to death. My worst fear is going months without finding a job. I start to panic, and then I control myself. All I know is that I have faith that the right job is out there for me and my dear, dear lord will not let me down.

Of course I know I have to make an effort. I’ve been applying at different places, yet I feel I haven’t been as aggressive as I should be. But now that I am almost done, I will be hitting those job openings with a vengeance.

I will look at the bright side and see my unemployment time as resting time for the hell this school year put me through. Well no, I put myself through hell in order to graduate this year with a minor included.

I sit here, waiting to go in PR Management class, and it’s still hard to process everything. All I know is that my hard work is paying off, and I’m one step closer to making my dad and mom proud. 

Even after I looked for direction to the Diamond Bar city hall, I managed to get lost. I blame it on the wrong directions, but if you know my love/hate relationship with directions, you might say otherwise.

As we all sat there waiting for Professor Spoon, we realized we were at the wrong building. We all made it just in time before the meeting began. I scrambled to get my paper out and got ready to take some notes. I can’t tell you enough how glad I am that they heave the whole thing on their website because my notes were a little to disorganized.

As I sat there, I started realizing that nothing interesting was happening at this meeting. I kept a mental note about the budget, since it was probably going to be the only newsworthy material discussed. But even when we asked the major more information regarding the budget, she seemed adamant about giving any information.

I though it was interesting that Chang made Diamond Bar highly appealing over other nearby cities. I guess it’s her job to do that, but I felt she over-emphasized on how great the city is and nothing bad ever really happens. But then you look at the stats sheet about the city and there’s no way you can compare Diamond Bar to say, Pomona because Diamond Bar residents are far wealthier. Maybe it’s just me ranting, but that was one of my observations.

And let’s not forget the librarian! At first, I thought it was a stunt to make us laugh, but then I realized she was being dead serious. I can appreciate the enthusiasm she had though for the new library and learning in general. I’m glad Professor Spoon changed the word count on this assignment though. I don’t know that I want to attend any other city council meetings if they are all like the one we went to! 

After writing about “Once Upon a Mattress,” and having the opportunity to have a behind-the-scenes look, I had to see the final product. So I got tickets for Friday night (today), grabbed my boyfriend and off we went! This was my first musical, and I was not disappointed. The comical musical in an adaption of Princess and the Pea, which I never read as a child. I went in clueless about the story’s plot.

So if you have no idea what I’m talking about, let me explain. Dauntless is a prince who hasn’t found the right princess to marry. His overbearing mother, Aggravain, makes it almost impossible for any princess to meet the requirements to marry her son. That is, until Winnifred comes along. She is in no way the traditional princess, yet Dauntless is smitten with her and she reciprocates the feeling. Aggravain puts Winnifred under a test to see if she is really a princess and if she passes, she will marry Dauntless. The tale ends with a happily ever after.

Even though the performance was a little over two hours long, I enjoyed every minute of it. They had no mistakes, none that were visible anyways. Everyone played their role very well, and I was laughing the entire time. I seriously appreciate all the talent these student performers have. I can’t wait to see them on Monday and tell them how much I appreciate all the hard work they do to entertain us.

There were a lot of happy family members in the audience. They were recording and taking pictures of their kids, cousins, sisters and brothers. I will definitely go to another theater play in the future. Now, I can’t wait to go to the other student performances this quarter. They are definitely making my last few weeks on campus very enjoyable! 

Friday, May 11 2012

11:56 p.m.

Interning in the music department is definitely rewarding. Not only because I’m learning through my tasks in the publicity office, but because I’ve come to meet talented people I wouldn’t had the pleasure to otherwise.

The department is putting together its annual music theatre workshop. This year’s production is “Once Upon a Mattress,” which is a comical adaptation of “Princess and the Pea.” It is under the direction of Susan Egan. Now, I know people who are not involved in music or theater may not familiar with her, but she is quiet the Broadway superstar. She voiced “Meg” in “Hercules” and was the first to play “Belle” in Broadway’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Her accomplishment list goes on and on! Well, I jumped on the opportunity to meet with her and ask her questions about the production and what it is like working in the CPP music department. Being in her presence was a pleasure. I had the opportunity to see how she directs and show students what she expects from their characters. She was very precise and knew what she was doing. She was very down-to-earth, and I admire that because I was expecting someone of her caliber to be rude, maybe even obnoxious.

I wanted student’s perspectives on what it was like working with her, but also learn a little more about them and what they aspired to do with their careers. It is amazing to me the amount of talent there is in the music department. It houses so much, and yet it is such a small department! Anyways, I interviewed three students who have different roles in the play. Needless to say, all three are extremely talented. All three said it was a pleasure working with Egan. Everyone is easy to talk to because they are so friendly and willing to cooperate.

I had a great time getting all my information together for this assignment. I had the opportunity to meet a Broadway superstar, who else can say that?!