School is about to start back up again and this semester will be my first as an official technical direction student! I am the most excited I have ever been, and naturally completely terrified. Though I come from an intense math and science background (I’m talking calculus based physics before I graduated middle school), I have very little experience in the TD world. I did grow up around power tools — there was a table saw in the backyard and I learned how to use a sawzall before I finished elementary school — so I’m pretty comfortable in the shop, but the whole being-in-charge-of-the-shop thing is not something I’ve ever done. Of course, I’ll be in a ton of TD classes from welding to scenic installation to how to manage production personnel to help me gain these skills, but also a few design classes at my request. Side note: a teacher of mine once told me that the best technical people are designers at heart because they are so much more creative than those who come from a purely technical background, and I think that is completely true. Also, I’ve always loved fashion design so I will be possibly the only TD student ever to take the Intro to Costume Design class and the Makeup for Costuming class. This semester will be whirlwind of new experiences and challenges, and I’m looking forward to diving headfirst into the fray.