I can remember that time in my life in
which, whenever I heard the idiom “Time flies when you’re having fun” uttered,
I just naturally assumed it was from an ‘old’ person – after all, terms at
school, however enjoyable, seemed to take ages! And that’s not to mention school
exams…
And yet somehow every time I come to write
one of these posts, I wonder where the time has gone since I last did so. There’s
only one logical explanation: 21 is undeniably, categorically, and officially
‘old’ – time to look into pensions and retirement plans, I guess!
All joking aside, however, it’s weird to
think that this is my final post of 2013, as the whole calendar year seems to
have shot by like a rocket, leaving brilliant memories, great achievements and
some of the richest and most incredible experiences of my life trailing in its
wake. It’s been quite a spell in the global spectrum with the news frequently
featuring some sad losses yet new beginnings, great tragedies and yet
inspirational accomplishments amidst a backdrop of difficult economic conditions
and social unrest, and yet the world continues to throw up brilliant and
wonderful surprises that constitute many a bright reason to be optimistic going
forward into 2014.
And that’s without even pointing out that
it’s a football World Cup year – awesome (or not, depending on your
perspective)!
So as I look back at all the brilliant
events of 2013, many of which were directly borne from the facilities,
personnel and opportunities that play such a pivotal role in my life in
Southampton, I find it incredible to see just how much has gone on in the
previous 12 months for me. It’s certainly been one heck of a ride!
January
- Went through the inevitable attempts to
cling on to the rapidly retiring Christmas and New Year’s celebrations period, brought
to a crashing halt by…
- The ever-looming, demanding exam period!
Although it did feature my favourite course module to date, Human-Computer
Interaction – there’s nothing quite like being asked to design a smartphone app
under exam conditions!
- January also brought snow, and lots of
it! Indeed so much so that one of my exams had to be rescheduled, the perfect
excuse to celebrate, put down the books for a couple of hours and engage in a
bitter inter-faculty snowball war on the Southampton Common field. For course,
Queen and country!
- Made the most of the completely
no-pressure, joyous spell that is the end of exam period (before the second
semester starts)!
Snow can only mean one thing!
February
- Kicked off Semester Two in style with
some new (and particularly challenging) modules to tackle, a highlight for me
being the fascinating principles of Artificial Intelligence.
- Went along to 3 Performing Arts shows in
a fortnight, and enjoyed them all greatly!
- Made a stand-up comedy debut in a
national student competition on Valentine’s Day, the date making my choice of
material quite straightforward! In truth the eight minutes I spent on stage
with microphone in hand are a massive blur in my head, but no fruit was thrown
if I recall, so I’d call it a relative success! I’d love to give it another go
at some point.
- Travelled with the Student Union’s
Theatre Group to Shakespeare’s Globe in London for a fascinating backstage
tour, followed by a dramatic workshop with a veteran of its stage, Colin Hurley.
- Was lucky enough to be cast in the
Theatre Group’s play to tour at the Edinburgh Fringe in the summer, Hanging Bruce-Howard – I couldn’t
believe it!
- Celebrated averaging a First in Semester
One, despite all of the distractions above (and more)!
March
- Carried on working towards Semester Two,
particularly battling away with the usual pre-Easter deadline rush. Luckily,
everything went in on time – sometimes, by hook or by crook!
- Enjoyed an incredible occasion at the
Union which saw new Sabbatical Officers elected, Results Night Live, all broadcast live online in the form of
professional-standard coverage from SUSUtv
and Surge Radio which added extra
glamour to the spectacle!
- Was fortunate enough to successfully be
elected onto the Theatre Group 2013/14 committee as Webmaster for the academic
year – a position I can hopefully justify in terms of a Software Engineering
degree at least!
- Made a singing and dancing debut with SUSU Showstoppers on the professional
Nuffield Theatre stage as part of their production of Parade - despite the inevitable nerves, it all seemed to go down very
well and we as a cast had a great time to boot!
- Headed home for a much-needed rest over
the Easter holidays – and a bit of revision here and there!
The cast and crew of Parade on the Nuffield Theatre stage!
April
- More revision: April is very much time to
get down to academic business with deadlines and exams looming!
- Acted in the Theatre Group’s annual Showcase, which gives the opportunity for
new writers to see their work put to the stage; this time I was cast as a
character in the middle of an emotional break-up, so quite far removed from
stand-up then!
- Attended the annual Performing Arts ball
- a chance to get dressed up and enjoy an evening of excellent food and company
in a swanky venue is never one to be turned down!
May
- Summer exams – gah! But a necessary evil,
and a nice chance to reflect on the broad nature of the curriculum on offer.
- Made a directorial debut as an assistant
in Keeping Down with the Joneses, and
even ended up making a couple of cameo appearances. Fortunately, it turned out
to be a critical and commercial success, and so it was yet another brilliant opportunity,
as well as a privilege to be a part of!
- Took part in a successful radio broadcast
fundraiser for Hanging Bruce-Howard,
featuring all sorts of forfeits in the name of fund-raising!
- Successfully pitched Equus to the Theatre Group committee as a co-director of a
production team.
- Went along to St Mary’s Stadium in
Southampton for the glorious Saints’ final game of the season – a
not-so-classic, but still very enjoyable, 1-1 draw with Stoke!
It also turned out to be Michael Owen’s
last ever professional game – nice!
June
- The end of exams – and the academic year!
As with first year, my second had seemingly shot by, and now there was nothing
more but to wait for results…
- Went along to the traditional Theatre
Group annual picnic and leavers’ meal events, appreciating both the sunshine
and also the further opportunities to suit up, although all of this was amidst
the backdrop of bidding a fond farewell to many a graduating member.
- Was lucky enough to be awarded “Best Cameo” at the ‘Theatre Group
Oscars’ for the few minutes I spent on stage in Joneses - crikey!
- Saw over 70 auditionees through the door
for Equus and had to make some tough
calls – indeed, as a team we spent over 12 hours on them one particularly
troublesome day!
- Sung and danced again in Showstoppers’ annual 24 Hour Show. A musical rehearsed entirely within 24 hours and with sleep highly
lacking amongst the cast members as a result, things kind of fell apart on the
day, but it was all in the name of charity, so the pressure was well and truly
off as we tried to improvise around it to hilarious effect!
- Met with my Third Year Project
(dissertation) supervisor for the first time and planned out its premise: with
one year until submission at this point, I had ages… right?!!
July
- Moved boxes and piles of stuff out of the
second year house – and into the fresh confines of the third year one!
- Was lucky enough to be invited to speak
as part of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Education’s talks at the July Open Days,
letting me explain why I love the University to hundreds of visitors
(unfortunately I couldn’t fit all of the above into the five minute slot,
despite my best efforts!).
- Began rehearsals for Hanging Bruce-Howard and put on a few well-received preview
showings of it in preparation for the Fringe.
- Outside of rehearsals, took advantage of
the summer to go to Bournemouth beach, have many a cast barbecue and watch a
lot of films. So University without the work, basically!
August
- The Edinburgh Festival Fringe: the most fun and fulfilling three
weeks of my life so far, and an incredibly rich experience on all levels, I
could write up a book or two on it – and then some! If you’re interested at all
in the time we spent up there as Gone
Rogue Productions presents “Hanging Bruce-Howard”, check out my blog posts
about it (called Tales in Scotland)
in September, but be warned it might take some time to read it all! I can’t
wait to return one day!
- … The rest of the month was spent simply
getting over the post-tour blues!
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe was the
standout highlight of an incredible 2013 – what a month!
September
- Celebrated a cracking 21st
birthday with family, friends and loved ones in various ways (largely
food-related!) and both Northern and Southern locations.
- Kicked off rehearsals for Equus, my first ever show as a lead director,
including organising cast trips to laser tag and a stable!
- Was fortunate enough to be invited back
to take part in the Pro Vice-Chancellor’s September Open Day talks: again, a
great reminder for me, and hopefully a demonstration for prospective
applicants, of just why the student body here loves their University – it
offers so much!
- Welcomed another fresh batch of students
into the University by helping at Freshers’ events in the Union – if anything
makes you feel old…
- Commenced the intimidating prospect of
Third Year: ahhh!
October
- Began to tackle the Third Year Project
and yet another varied but interesting set of modules.
- The month of all things Equus: rehearsing, scheduling,
budgeting, designing, filming, scoring, marketing, building, and generally
running around organising dominated any free time this month! But we’d love to
think the end product was well worth it!
- I was also fortunate enough to be cast in
two Showstoppers shows which should
be worth checking out in February, namely the hilarious Little Shop of Horrors and classic Guys and Dolls – keep an eye out for them in the Annex Theatre
after January exams!
November
- Amidst rapidly amassing deadlines, I
found myself in computer labs fairly often – it’s true that Third Year really
does necessitate knuckling down!
- Continued rehearsals for other shows, and
rediscovered my extremely slow abilities in learning dance routines – at this
rate, it might take til February to get them right!
- Acted in the SUSUtv annual film, the
Society, my first ever taste of on-screen acting - hopefully coming to the
Union cinema near you soon!
December
- Wrote close to 15,000 words in
under two weeks to see off the final term’s deadlines, before heading back to
bed for some much-needed R&R!- And, of course, there were the traditional house and Theatre Group Christmas meals to look forward to - much appreciated after a few months of living off beans on toast – and a chance to share in the company of the inspirational individuals who surround me here.
- Finally, enjoyed the trip home back up North, a wonderful family Christmas, and the chance to reunite with old friends and see out the year in style.
Santa Claus had certainly been to the
Johnson household this year
So in summary, good luck 2014 – if you’re
hoping to topple this year, you’re going to need it!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to
all!
Robin
Robin
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