Summer travels give graduate
experience
By Jamie Teibel
Summer
Editor
She'll spend four weeks in Des Moines, Iowa, five
weeks in Waterford, Conn., a week in Indianapolis for camp and 10 days
relaxing before she leaves for Tucson, Ariz.: this is the schedule for
Susan Nicholson’s summer. She graduated from the School of Liberal
Arts with a double major in theater design and technology and athletic
training.
Nicholson said she got interested in theater in
high school. She did backstage work in her school’s productions
but changed to lighting because she "loves making things look pretty."
Nicholson was also an athlete in high school. She
was often injured, and spent much time in the trainer’s office.
She said she wants to help people the way her trainers helped her.
"I’m ready for something other than corn
as far as the eye can see," she said about leaving Lafayette. "I’m
really excited, this is the first time since I was 16 I haven’t
had to be a lifeguard."
Nicholson’s first stop is the Des Moines Metro
Opera. There she will be working for four weeks as an electrician with
a staff that consists of all men, an atmosphere Nicholson is used to.
"I’ve done it for so long, it’s not a big deal for me
anymore," she said.
After the Opera, Nicholson is off to complete a
five-week internship at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford.
She will be an assistant to a lighting designer, following her around
and helping with paper work, she will do some design work and possibly
get the chance to design a couple of shows at the end of the season
while putting her own ideas into them.
From there Nicholson returns to Indianapolis to
take part in a church camp as a counselor for a week. After the camp
she'll have a few days of relaxation before she has to board a plane,
this time headed west.
In Tucson, she will begin a master of fine arts
program in lighting design at the University of Arizona.
"It’s odd," she said of leaving
the area, "I’ve lived here for so long, it’s going to
be hard leaving all of my friends and family."
Nicholson said she would like to "create a
profession" by traveling with a dance troupe or theater group as
a trainer and designer.
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