A Third Visit to Look at My Future!
by Kit Baumer
Hello! I’m Kit Baumer and I’m a junior at Gustavus Adolphus College.
This year I was excited to receive a scholarship from the Northern Boundary Section in order to help fund my trip to the USTT Conference this past March. This was my third year attending the conference and I 
loved being able to go to some great sessions and exploring the Stage Expo.! ! Two of the most interesting sessions that I attended were “Launching a Career in Entertainment - Hoorah! A Degree… Now What” and “Teaching the History of Stage Design”.
The presenters for “Launching a Career” talked about topics that are currently being covered in one of my classes at Gustavus. Hearing other professionals in the industry talk about the importance of interviews, your public identity, and portfolios gave me an enthusiasm and a more hopeful look at what life after college will be.
“Teaching the History of Stage Design” was basically about the history of theatrical design from the time of the Ancient Greeks to now and how it might be taught in the classroom. This session instilled an enthusiasm in me to learn about the history of stage design.! !
Since I will be graduating next year I decided that my goal for the Stage Expo was to go and talk to a few graduate schools that had booths. I ended up talking to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Connecticut, the University of Illinois, and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. They all had enthusiastic representatives so it has become a little bit easier for me to put aside my nerves about being accepted into a good graduate school and to instead focus on all of the new and exciting things I will be doing when I get there. I was most drawn to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama because I will be in London this summer participating in a study abroad internship and as of right now it is my goal to move to the United Kingdom and work as a lighting designer in theatrical industry. Even though USITT is an institute based in the United States it is still has amazing international opportunities that I hope to utilize in the future.
Who knows where the future may take me. What I do know is that USITT will be able to help me get there. I highly encourage others to go to the conference when ever you can and thank you NBS for helping me attend this year!