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Learning Showcase

Introduction

Hello readers! Welcome to my learning showcase. On this page of my digital portfolio, I outline two specific learning opportunities that I have experienced in my lifetime. The first knowledge snapshot example describes my experience adjusting to a full-time job for the very first time discusses the various skills I learned as a newly hired booking agent associate at MINT Talent Group. The second knowledge snapshot example outlines my experience training with the famous Shakespeare & Company and studying all aspects of Shakespearean performance for over six years.

Both examples are particularly memorable to me, as each taught me very crucial learning skills that I still use to this day. Thanks to both, I consider myself a better communicator who is able to handle many responsibilities and work efficiently with team members to curate better end products to any given task. My first knowledge snapshot has allowed me to stick my foot in the door of the music industry and gain an understanding of all the steps within the artist booking process. I can use these skills moving forward to dive further within the music industry and give me the opportunity to learn other roles within this field as well. My second knowledge snapshot focuses mainly on text analysis and oral communication, which are priceless skills to master as a working adult. Thanks to my Shakespearean theatre training, I feel more competent in understanding various nuances within the English language and I feel that I now have the ability to speak and perform everyday dialogue proficiently.

Drafting and perfecting these two knowledge snapshots have taught me a lot about myself as a student. Prior to taking my Reflective Learning class at DePaul, I did not feel particularly ready to dive into the adult working world post-graduation. Reflecting on and expanding upon these two learning experiences below taught me to trust the skills I have acquired throughout my academic career and have made me more ready to take on the next step in my life than ever before!

Discovering My Potential Within the Music Industry

Overview:

When I first applied for an internship with MINT Talent Group, a music artist booking agency, my goals were to learn and achieve real-world experience in the music industry and to determine whether or not I would pursue a career in this area post-graduation. I threw myself into my intern responsibilities and learned some crucial background information about the company and why it was formed as a new agency startup. I very quickly fell in love with the work I did and the people I worked for as a result. The company was inclusive, organized, and hardworking despite being fully internet-based. My new goal quickly became to work hard enough to be offered a paid position from MINT by the end of my internship period. To my delight, they did just that, and so I started my first ever full-time job in my desired industry no less.

Skills & Knowledge Gained:

I became proficient in the computer database systems used such as Gigwell the Book and Gigwell Track to organize information and conduct detailed agency booking and tracking reports.
I honed and perfected my Excel and Google Sheets skills to organize information efficiently and with descriptive detail.
I learned the importance of both written and oral communication in the workplace and refined by professional email skills, since my position mainly requires electronic communication to confirm artist offers and update tour details.
I further developed my teamwork skills and learned when to ask for help if I had too many things on my plate.
Through practice and repetition, I learned how to book live shows and tours which is a critical part of the music industry.
I learned to appreciate striving for accuracy by having my daily ticket count reports go through multiple levels of review and revisions before being sent to artist management teams.
I discovered the importance of an inclusive work environment where disproportionate employer power and intimidation are minimized, and gender equality and diversity are valued and encouraged.

Lessons Learned:

The lessons I have learned working so closely with other music industry professionals are innumerable. Not only have I learned what goes on behind the scenes of touring and live performances, but I have also learned how to adapt my lifestyle to my very first full-time job with a typical work day ranging from 8 to 12 hours, all while still taking college classes to fulfill my degree. Working for a company that truly values their employees and particularly uplifts the voices of women in the industry speaks volumes to me. Having such a strong support system has allowed me to take risks and learn from my mistakes. I have learned to not take these mistakes personally and rather perceive them as opportunities for growth. Having never worked in the industry prior to this experience, I have opened my mind to new learning and new ways to approach and network within my professional relationships.

Specific lessons I learned included becoming proficient in various aspects within the booking industry. For example, I learned how to break down formal offer letters where talent buyers pitch their ideas to our company regarding the artists on our roster. I learned about all of the industry terminology that is necessary to outline when booking artists for live performances, such as radius clauses and various deal types. I am familiar with all steps within the process of tour routing such as the show drafting period, the period where we chase buyer signed contracts and outstanding show deposits, and the period where we need to collect weekly ticket counts for each tour stop to allocate our marketing budget accordingly. I feel much more well-versed in music industry jargon now and I no longer have to ask my supervisors for clarification every time they ask me to fulfill a task.

All this has taught me to be a more responsible and consistent worker who is able to manage my time effectively, avoid burnout, and trust my instincts when it came to diving into a new project. Moving forward, I will be able to apply the knowledge and skills I’ve learned from this job not only toward my future career within the music industry, but also toward my whole life to become a more confident, experienced, and reliable worker.

Impact:

Leaving college and entering my very first full-time job in my career has been one of the most intimidating experiences of my entire life. I used to have a lot of anxiety when it first came to entering college and deciding my course of study. I worried that I would not be able to find a position in a field that truly interested me like music and media, and I felt that my perceived lack of creative potential or drive would prevent me from landing a position that felt more fulfilling than a boring office job. What I learned through this experience with MINT is that I truly do have the skills necessary to make an impact in whatever industry I want to work within, and that it is the hands-on experience and action that makes all the difference.

I also learned how important working for a company that values their workers, especially their female workers, was to me. Not only do I have multiple woman mentors that I can look toward for inspiration and allyship in an industry that was male-dominated one mere generation before me, but I also have felt incredibly welcomed, embraced, and encouraged to participate in our Woman in Music Mentorship program that MINT has begun. I never imagined that I would feel so valued in my very first entry-level job, which makes working so hard during my internship with them feel so much more worthwhile. This job has both taught me crucial skills as I enter a new phase of my professional life as well as has given me high standards when it comes to gender equality and diversity in the work environment and how employers should treat their employees.

Honing My Communication Skills Through Shakespearean Text and Performance

Overview:

I was very fortunate to have been exposed to some wonderful theatre programs when I was between the ages of 12 and 18. In particular, I trained very closely with Shakespeare & Company during those six plus years of my life, a world-renowned theatre company that has various youth programs that I auditioned for and got accepted into. I learned so much from my professional acting mentors, from effective performance techniques to even more general communication skills. I was very artistically inclined growing up and throwing myself into these intensive acting programs not only taught me useful skills that I practice to this day, but also allowed me to have a creative outlet for artistic expression through performance.

Skills & Knowledge Gained:

I practiced and trained with professional actors at Shakespeare & Company through both their Fall Festival program as well as their youth acting intensive programs. Learning from these professionals opened my eyes to studying acting as a powerful artistic expression of meaning through voice, body, and recitation of text.
I developed and matured my language skills through studying Early Modern English to comprehend the variety of meanings within Shakespearean text. My knowledge gained through this vocabulary expansion allowed me to analyze and communicate in today’s English with more clarity and precision.
I became comfortable with research involving dictionaries and lexicons to grasp the etymology of Shakespearean—and even everyday—English terminology.
I developed my global engagement through Shakespeare’s plays and became more knowledgeable of British historical events.
I honed my memorization skills and learned the most efficient way of retaining difficult text and performing it.
I worked with a new cast of fellow students each year and sharpened my teamwork skills and my ability to work with others to reach a common goal.

Lessons Learned:

One of the most prominent lessons I learned from this experience training professionally at Shakespeare & Company was doing extensive research on the text that we studied and eventually recited. Although it may seem that this experience was entirely focused on the performance of Shakespeare’s plays, a majority of the training process was actually diving deep into the text and picking apart every little word to fully analyze all of the possible meanings within his art. This assignment took weeks of flipping through dictionaries and lexicons to truly understand each piece of dialogue so that we not only could perform the work effectively, but also so that we would understand the lines we recited to fully embody the artistic meaning behind each character we played. As a result of this “studying period” prior to actual rehearsals, my vocabulary became expansive, and my language skills were strengthened. Today, I believe this process has allowed me to better understand historical text as well as how to communicate meaning most efficiently.

Another lesson that struck me from this experience was learning the art of rehearsing and performing professional theatre. My mentors from Shakespeare & Company approached acting in a way much different from any high school theatre directors I have ever had. Throughout the months of putting together our performances each year, we would have weekly “Common Classes” that tackled various aspects of performance arts such as movement, stage combat, speech, and even sessions where we learned about clowning. Having classes that focused on these specific competencies allowed us to acquire a fundamental understanding of these performance techniques and skills to develop strategies that we could implement into our personal acting journeys.

Lastly, I learned critical teamwork skills not only when it came to tasks like running lines with my castmates, but also when performing with these individuals on stage. I discovered that having strong relationships with my castmates during and even outside of rehearsals translated to strong communal energy and yielded a better performance onstage from all parties.

Impact:

Although I did not pursue a career in acting, the lessons and skills I have learned through my professional Shakespeare training have stuck with me to this day. The largest impact I have noticed is the way I approach difficult text, especially historical writing and primary sources. I have encountered these type of sources numerous times in my studies, and I anticipate encountering them on multiple occasions for the rest of my life. Rather than getting frustrating and letting the writing stump me, I now pull out my dusty dictionary (or rather, Merriam-Webster’s online database, though the dusty dictionary imagery was more fun to use) and I start breaking down common phrases and terminologies to begin understanding the text from square one. This requires time and effort, but having a deeper understanding of the text through this researching process is invaluable. Today, I consider myself a better learner and reader thanks to the dictionary work that was drilled into me for six plus years during middle and high school.

I also believe studying and performing difficult text like Shakespeare’s works have allowed me to become a better communicator overall. Yes, I have a vast vocabulary now and I am able to draw from these language skills when I talk to others, but I also am proficient in nonverbal communication thanks to my professional theatre and performance training. For example, I am skilled at maintaining eye contact, which is one of the most effective non-verbal communication techniques that aids me in everything from job interviews to listening to a friend vent something important to me. I also am competent at varying my cadence when I speak which allows others to listen and absorb the information I express more effectively. I owe a lot to my acting training. Reflecting on this experience has highlighted all the ways it has impacted various aspects of my life today.

That's me on the right!