Mari Makela – Drama - Level 3
Slippery Rock University, USA
My adventure started back in Christmas 2021 by browsing exchange destinations and partner universities. I thought about the USA but I found an interesting school in Australia too. I made up my mind based on only the information on the schools’ web pages. It didn’t make the choice any easier that some schools offered only the names of the classes and not the descriptions. After a long thinking process my choices were California (USA), Gold Coast (Australia), or Pennsylvania (USA) in that order. I got into the last one. As a drama student, the reason for signing up for the exchange program was to broaden my skills and knowledge in practice because QMU’s drama department is quite academically emphasised. My goal was to learn more about directing, acting, and physical theatre in classroom settings. As I believe that none of those skills can be learned merely from a book.
The orientation week at Slippery Rock University was fun, it was full of activities with other international students. However, the start of the semester was nothing but easy. The first trouble was that I wasn’t introduced to the study platform in advance. Turned out that one class required a book ordered beforehand and tasks completed for the very first session that I wasn’t aware of. But I was fortunate enough that my teacher took care of everything in the first class. She organised a book borrowed for me from another student. The second trouble was that I couldn’t sign up for the classes I was planning to because they were all full. The exchange students were last in the queue for the classes. However, I was lucky enough to talk my way through all of the classes by asking permission from all the lecturers individually. This hassle took more than a week so I missed quite a few classes because of that.
I stayed in campus dorms and I was lucky to get a double room just for myself. When usually the dorms are shared with a roommate. It was a good idea to stay on campus because the days were long! In fact, international students were required to stay on campus. I had my own bathroom, fridge, and microwave but no kitchen. That’s why almost all students staying in dorms had to have a meal plan. At first, I liked the food but quite soon I was tired of the whole fast food culture they have in America. Most of the time healthy options were not very tasty on campus. Having any special diet would have been very challenging. There were not many shops around either.
My campus was located in the country with no public transport connections. There was, however, one bus that I could never take because it ran only when I had my classes. For that reason, I couldn’t see the closest big city, Pittsburgh. For me, it was okay because that way I had my savings before and after travels in New York, Chicago, and LA. The only time I got out of campus during the semester was the International Student Organisation’s snow tubing trip and the trip to Niagara Falls in Buffalo. Additionally, the theatre department kept me very busy even during weekends. They held several professional workshops on Saturdays. Weekends were also busy with student ran performances and workshops. My favorite was a long experimental improv show.
The difference from my home university I found was that the course was intense from week 1. It was also 100 % more practical. I performed every week in dance, acting, and directing classes. In the beginning, homework took all evenings and weekends until I started doing them during the classes, any time there were little breaks. Some modules had quizzes every second week. All of this I wasn’t used to in Scotland.
Slippery Rock University has a huge theatre department. They have hundreds of passionate students studying acting, musical theatre, directing, design, and all related. I was super excited. The content of the classes truly exceeded my expectations. Classroom work gave me a strong foundation for specific acting techniques and directing theories. I loved the fact that I could use all the learned theories across the classes throughout the semester. That really kept me motivated and boosted my learning. I’m going to use all the learned things in my future professional practice. SRU had a strong connection to the industry through professional workshops for example tv-acting, clownery, and eurythmics as well. We had visiting teachers including Broadway actors and Broadway choreographers, stage managers, sound designers, and playwrights. I had valuable individual feedback and support throughout the semester from the teaching staff. SRU is a much bigger university than what I was used to. They have a lot of services for the students. My favourite is the career centre. I got a lot of personal assistance with my resume and cover letter. I also managed to create connections to the local companies that provide theatre internships which I’m planning to apply in the near future. All of this I really loved about this experience. For me, the most exciting experience was, however, the directing showcase as a part of the directing module. I went through the whole process from choosing a play of my choice to casting, planning, rehearsing, and all the way to the performance.
I can’t describe how grateful I am to QMU and Santander for giving me this fantastic opportunity and given funds. I couldn’t possibly afford this without them. I was responsible paying for only for my visa, flights, insurance, and meal plan. I’d like to thank Irvine Allan, Laura Stevenson, Rachel Blanche, Stephanie Arsoska, and Andy Henry from QMU who made this possible. Also special thanks to SRU’s international admissions office, Noora Alie, Sierra Bell, and Musiette Clay from the global engagement office, and professors Laura Smiley, David Skeele, and Kari-Anne Innes.
I would say going for an exchange takes a lot of effort. All the paperwork was never-ending. Uncertainty was present until the last minute. Like my exchange was deferred from fall to spring only a couple of weeks before the start date because the paperwork I got from abroad was too late to get the visa. I had to travel to London for the visa interview as they aren’t issued anywhere closer to Scotland. But still, I would do it again anytime. Even if I had hoped for a more sunny location than freezing-cold Pennsylvania. I would still highly recommend the theatre department of Slippery Rock University to anyone who has a chance to go.
