Mid Year Review (Part 1)

Since I'm still not allowed to travel, I'll just imagine that I get a mid-year retreat. Virtually.

This morning, I finally checked one of my boxes for 2021's acting plan. My email application for an intermediate/advanced acting class on its way, I stepped into my workplace feeling significantly better than usual. Yeah, workplace. The word still feels surreal. I'm putting in the hours for my acting classes, and this Mid Year Review aims to put all of those experiences into words. 

Half the year has gone by in a flash. 2021 definitely wasn't as draining as 2020, but well. Yi yan nan jin, and that's Chinese Mandarin for there being so many different things to talk about that there's simply too much, too much to mention. You thought you could escape the Wicked reference this time round? Not on my watch. But I digress. Fresh from the final year of high school or junior college as we call it here, I've had about 8 months to fully experience life outside the confines of the education system for the first time. Though I didn't get to enjoy the promised graduation trip to Taiwan that my squad had been planning since 2019, I still managed to obtain a wealth of invaluable experiences right here on this island, and I'll forever be grateful for each of those moments.

This year marks the first time I've ever gone out for in-person jobs, the second time in a row that I celebrated my birthday in a lockdown and the third time in my life I've held my breath as I collected my results for a national examination. Oh, and the infinite moments where theatre has become a part of my everyday life? Immaculate.

I had a couple of goals on my 2021 wishlist - I had been planning for this post-A-Level break for an eternity, and when it finally arrived I was only too eager to put my plans into action. The first one, naturally, was to start pursuing acting. I registered for an in-person class almost 4 months in advance, and while waiting, I read acting books and participated in acting forums to get a sense of what I actually had to do. See, the thing about acting isn't so much about not understanding its concept. It's a relatively easy concept, to be given a circumstance and to create it as if it were real. The hard part is refining that skill so that your audience actually believes it. Therefore, I dedicated 2021 to making sure that I had a solid foundation in the craft. For the rest of this year, I plan to participate in college productions, take a musical theatre class and continue on my actor training.

Did anyone mention that all of it probably costs money? Oh yeah. I jumped through a couple of jobs and applied for a pretty diverse range of positions before I finally landed a six-week teaching assistant contract at a student daycare. Here's a bunch of things I learned from stumbling through adult life for the first time:

• There are nice people around. Remember how it feels to be around them and be that person when the next new staffer comes along.
• There are not-so-nice people around. Keep being nice and cheerful anyway.
• When people do not-so-nice things, you have the right to report them for harassment or whatever it is they're doing.
• Also, never apologize for walking out of an abusive situation.
• Always keep receipts and evidence.
• Interest is the 8th natural wonder of the world.

Dealing with my own bills for the first time this year has been a major jump from my days of schoolwork and social media scrolling. I'm definitely not making much from my job, but I find it fulfilling all the same. I mean, I never expected to land a job where I can dabble with drama education! And the kids just make everything worth it. I absolutely love them, and I come to work every day looking forward to the moment I step into the school hall to pick my daycare children up. No matter what, I'm getting my own coins and funding my own acting journey, and that experience has helped me to value every moment even more. 

Finances is a whole new ball game and I am still learning a lot about how I can manage loans, investments, job contracts and savings. As an actor, knowing how to keep an eye on the numbers is very important given the constant flow of income and expenditure. This semester has been eye opening and so refreshingly different from what the rest of my life had been like, and I really look forward to what the next half might bring.

This isn't the end! I'll continue with this post in another installment. There's so much more to talk about, but we have to keep to that schedule:)