"There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it." - Charles Dudley Warner

It seems like just yesterday that I was getting ready to pack for the 2012 NYC trip.  I was so nervous.  There were so many things going through my head:  what if I get lost?  What if I end up in bad parts of town?  What if I hate the city?  What am I going to do if I don't think I can make it as a performer?  

It turns out that all of those questions (and more) were answered on that trip.  I felt invigorated in that "concrete jungle where dreams are made of" (to quote Alicia Keys) and learned that New York isn't scary.  It's someplace I can see myself living.  I love the juxtaposition of luxury and grit, as well as other opposites found throughout the city.  

I learned that yes, performing is the right path for me.  I feel more comfortable admitting that now than right after the trip last year.  I am drawn to opera and thrive on the challenge of discovering a character and making it your own.  Working with characters has always been daunting to me, but during Die Fledermaus, I challenged myself to come up with extremely detailed aspects of Rosalinde's life.  Doing research (and then just using imagination) was my favorite part of learning the role.  In order to understand a character, we have to fully know it, and prior to Fledermaus, I didn't even think about specifics such as fears or things that make someone self-conscious, because they weren't important to the story.  I know Rosalinde inside and out, and the intimate knowledge of her character made me so much more comfortable with the idea of performing. I've found a method that works for me for the large-scale learning of entire roles, as opposed to only learning facets of a character when you learn only one aria.  Honestly, for character purposes, I'd much rather learn an entire role than just one aria (but let's be honest, I don't have enough time to devote that level of research and practice at this stage in my life.  I'm still working on figuring out my voice!)

Now we're preparing to start our journey - both to the city and to further self-discovery.  I'm in a completely different mindset now than I was for the first trip.  I'm not the wide-eyed, naive girl who almost hyperventilated and cried simultaneously her first trip to the Met (true story, that actually happened). 

My goals now are more concrete: 

1. I want to learn more about what daily life is like as a young artist (how often auditions are, balance of time with practice/performing and temping, etc.) 
2. I want to determine the best way for me to survive once I move to the city (best options for housing, inexpensive ways to do lots of different things without going bankrupt, how to find friends in a city where you don't know anyone, etc.)  

Yes, actually living as a "starving artist" in New York is a few years away, but I still want to be prepared.  I have the basics and now I need to learn more details so my acclimation to the real world (college life isn't real life, and I bet grad school isn't either) is smooth. 

All right New York, be ready.  I'm coming home to you.  

Jordyn Beranek