We decided in order to stay connected to our far away company member Ashley, we would make her blog for us monthly! So, you lucky Circle-lovers out there, welcome to our monthly installment of 'Circle Abroad!' (We realize Boston isn't Abroad, but it's away from our home-base, so it kind of works....) Here is what the beautiful Ashley had to say from her far-away land:
Hello from Boston all of our beautiful CCdd lovers! As many of you know, I had the difficult task of leaving San Diego a few months ago. I have come to Boston to pursue my Masters Degree in Arts Administration from Boston University.
After launching CCdd with this fantastic group of people, it became inherently clear what I was meant to do- and that meant that I needed to go back to school. A good friend of mine from my undergrad days at UMASS Amherst sent me a link to Boston University's Arts Administration degree program. I took one look and though, HOLY CRAP! THIS IS IT! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT! So I applied and managed to get accepted- all within about 10 days, it was pretty crazy. At the same time, I was searching high and low for a similar grad program in San Diego. I couldn't bear to think about leaving "America's Finest City", after all, it has that title for a reason! After accepting the fact that no other school in San Diego, or even California for that matter offered the same program, I had to deal with the fact that I was going to have to move back to the cold and snow and miserable winter life of New England. Leaving behind CCdd and all of my best friends in the world was incredibly hard and emotional. I've been gone for almost 2 months now, and it still makes me sad.
As hard as it is, I know it is all for something so amazing! I am going to be starting classes in about a month, and I am so very looking forward to it! I'm actually very excited to be going back to school and to be learning things that I actually want to learn about. I'm also excited to be moving into a cute house with some other girls in my program, one of them is even from San Diego!
The hardest part so far, is the job searching. As we all know, the Arts industry isn't exactly booming, so unfortunately finding a well paying stable job with a theater is out of the question. I've met with several staffing agencies, spent hours upon hours on Craigslist, CareerBuilder, Monster- you name it, and so far I've only gone to 2 interviews. I'm hoping an awesome job is just around the corner, and if not, I guess i'll be putting all my past dance classes to good use at the local strip club... I'll be sure to keep you posted.
Until next time!
-Ashley Toolan
We love you Ashley.