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As I continued throughout last semester I made sure that no matter what was going on I stuck to my values through and through as I think that values are what make a person. One big one that i worked on a lot was openness. I value the ability to talk with others freely and openly about especially when working together and sometimes it is hard for me. I can get a lot of anxiety about bringing up problems im having with some ideas or just voicing new thoughts that I had. But with how many group projects we had in PCP I worked really hard to always voice my opinion so I could produce something that I was proud of. And I think I really have improved from the beginning of the semester and I think I will only continue to improve. I also worked more on respecting others. While I dont think I was lacking respect I always think that any aspect of my life can be improved and so respect was worked on. I found more ways to disagree with others ideas in a healthy constructive way rather than in a destructive way. I definitely worked on my ability to lead others while not talking down or trying to be above others. And I think that my ability in that regard has improved greatly. I always struggle in finding ways to teach without sounding rude as I just sometimes dont realize I may come off in bad ways so especially working at TPA where we frequently helped the 324P lighting class learn I grew as a leader and as a teacher. And that is something I am very proud of

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This year ive worked on what I consider to be my most important professional pracitices and making sure that what I value is shown in my work. I have continued to learn many things even in areas that I would not have considered having more room to grow. Which just exemplifies more that learning is a non-stop process and you can never know everything. I became a lot more organized due to my work at TPA. We work in many spaces across TPA itself and the Winship building and because we are doing so much moving around different spaces its very important that we stay organized so when we need something we can get it without having to struggle to find it. We took cleaning and staying organized very seriously and had many times where we took a full work day to clean out and reorganize a space. Especially as the year came to a close we made sure that when we are fully running again next fall we will have everything we need ready for the hectic starting period. I also continued working on my safety skills especially when I was a production electrician on Carmen. I felt an even larger obligation to make sure that everyone on the crew was using proper safety techniques while working as I felt that was part of my job. Everytime we used the focus track or went to any sort of height I made sure everyone that was going to be high up was always harnessed and had proper fall protection as well as making sure everyone on the deck was paying attention at all times. One can never be too safe and I made sure that nothing went wrong as we worked on the show.

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This is a small collage I made of some picture of me and my crew working on Carmen

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This year has been huge for me moving towards becoming a better lighting designer and a better electrician. Throughout the year I have been working at the Texas Performing Arts Center as a student lighting assistant and it has opened an entire new window of opportunity for me. I was able to work on most UT produced shows and learn the process of doing lighting for a show from the very beginning to the end.I also got to do a small amount of work on professional productions that were passing through the Bass Concert Hall and begin to learn the flow of professional theater and the quirks that come from the business side of theater. I got to see the crew work for the touring production of The Lion King which was amazing as that is something that i'm interested in specifically the touring aspect. And seeing the backstage workings of it is something that not many get to do so it was really fun. I also very luckily got to participate officially in my first college theatre production as the Production Electrician for the opera Carmen. It was an amazing experience I got to work with an amazing lighting designer and lead a crew in the hang focus and maintenance of a very challenging plot. I got to build and use a focus track which was new and overall I had a really great time leading a team in what im most considering as a career which is being an stage electrician. I moved towards my goals in a more abstract way as well as I went to many concerts this year and got to see tons of amazing lighting jobs and even talked to a few designers and board ops at concerts asking them about their work and experience and learning a few things that I would need to know if I were to join that career.

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My name is Matthew Smith I was born in Tomball Texas but moved to Magnolia Texas at a young age. In Magnolia is where I found myself. For my early formative years I found myself in baseball. I played from the earliest age allowed which is around 4 and I played till i was in the 7th grade. Baseball taught me a lot about the world and about myself it taught me the importance of teamwork of perseverance and it taught me that I was scared of getting hit by baseballs. When I quit baseball it was because I simply reached a level where I could not continue being competitive without serious dedication and I simply did not have it for baseball. So for a year I was without anything really. I did no extra curriculars and kind of lost my self for a while I got way into video games and became less and less social. But in high school is where I really found who I was. My freshmen year I took theatre 1 in order to get a fine arts credit. I had no plans on doing any show I was just in the class for credit and nothing else. But my older sister wanted to do the show and attended the after school audition meeting and as she was my ride I was forced to stay. I kept telling myself that I wouldnt do the show but after the meeting the theatre teacher told me that I should just show up for rehearsal once and try it out. So I did and I loved it. From then on I did every single show I could. And I fell in love with it. The chaos of putting up a show the stress of tech week programming lights. Theatre was what made me me.