 Oh boy, hello. Thank you for hopping into the conversation. Oh, we're live. All right. Hello, viewers. Thank you for tuning in. Welcome to Berkeley Rep's Creative Careers, how to apply regional theater fellowships and internships. My name is Michael Curry. I'm the current education fellow here at Berkeley Repertory Theater. And before we get started, I'd like to thank our sponsors of the Creative Careers program, American Express and Baytree Fund. Thank you for your sponsorship. Now to get us started, I have a panel of lovely fellows from four different regional theaters around the country. And I'm going to have them introduce themselves, say what fellowship that they're currently doing and what theater they're working with. So to get us started, I'm going to pass it off to Tiana. Hello. My name is Tiana Baez. And I am the management fellow at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Thank you, Tiana Mali. Hi, everyone. My name is Mali Arshambo. I'm the arts administration apprentice at Hartford Stage. This is Lena Meir. I'm the young conservatory and studio ACT fellow at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. And I'm Ankita Reddury. I'm the literary and dramaturgy fellow here at Berkeley Repertory Theater. All right. Well, thank you all again for being here with us today. I want to pass the first question off to Mali, actually. So, Mali, can you tell our viewers what a typical day looks like for you at your fellowship at Hartford Stage? Sure. Yeah, absolutely. So as the arts administration apprentice, a huge part of my day is just staying at the front desk and kind of maintaining the general office atmosphere. But in addition to that, my day could consist of drafting contracts for incoming artists, prepping paperwork for them as soon as they get in here, drafting season calendars for our next season. Oh, gosh, sitting on a board meeting and taking minutes and any other various tasks that might get assigned to me. So just kind of juggling everything doing? Absolutely. Absolutely. A little bit of everything. That's kind of the best, I think. I see. I see. Tiana, I'd like to ask you the same question. What does a typical day look like at arena stage for you? Of course. A typical day for me, very similar to Molly, just kind of doing whatever, whenever it's needed. I work a lot with our board members, the corporate materials for subcommittee meetings and board meetings. I also work closely with our executive director and artistic directors and these special projects that come up that they need for me to do. And that can vary from day to day, hour to hour that can be anything from updating budget materials or metrics for archival purposes or finding producers for a specific stage reading that either one of them is interested in or is trying to put on. It really can. It changes a lot from day to day, which is very exciting. So it keeps things fresh, you know, something different every day, nothing. Exactly, yes. That's awesome. And I want to pass it over here to Lena. Sure. So my program, since I have a pretty long title and it is unique to ACT, I'm a conservatory fellow and the two programs that I work with are the young conservatory, which is our K through 12 educational program and Studio ACT, which is our continuing education program for adults. And so I'm handling class registration. I'm talking to parents and students, making sure that everything is set with the teachers and the students and the studios that they're working in. So just general day to day management of those classes as well as working with the rest of the conservatory and the MFA programs to see if they need any assistance. So finally, here at Berkeley Rep, what does the day look like for you? Here at Berkeley Fellowship. That could mean that I'm in rehearsal so it can't happen here, which we did in the fall. I was the script supervisor for that show, so I was in rehearsal all the time tracking script changes because that was like a brand new play. But then also sometimes I might be in our offices and those days are doing script coverage for play submissions from agents that we get or planning for our ground floor programs, which are all of our new play development programs. So one of the big things that the person in my fellowship does is read and evaluate applications for the ground floor summer residency lab along with the rest of the artistic staff. And then that happens in the summer and then when that happens, my fellowship will shift gears to being a facilitator for that program for the summer residency lab. Oh, nice. So it kind of depends on what's going on. So it varies by what exactly what program is going on at the moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then there's obviously a lot of management of the literary department that happens, like just upkeeping our script databases and stuff like that, and then I also contribute to program writing. But it really does depend on what's going on at that moment in the season. Nice. So it sounds like across the board we have a very shifting environment. Like daily, you know, you don't know what you're going to get into the next day. So it keeps things exciting and fresh. That's cool. Lena, I want to ask you what professional development opportunities does ACT offer its fellows as far as maybe like workshops or meetings they may have with artists for you to connect? How do they help you professionally develop in your career? I mean, personally, for me, I have a great mentor. Each fellow is put into a department and they have a supervisor, their mentor, who helps them through day-to-day stuff and checks in with them every month, makes sure that everything that they are wanting to get out of the fellowship, there's something for them there. So if they want to meet with other departments, if they want to meet with other supervisors to see, you know, what it's like in their department. So there's that kind of personal mentorship and then our coordinators also host meetings maybe once or twice a month just to check in with us and then to also arrange on a bigger scale aside from one-on-ones with other departments, with other people in departments, seminars with the supervisors, with the general managers, people like that so that they can host little talks with the fellows and just kind of keep them up to date with what's going on in the theater as well as asking them questions, you know, like what do you want to get out of this and how can I help you? Agatha, what about here at Berkeley Rep what opportunities do they offer to our fellows? Well, we have our monthly fellow meetings and so we've had an opportunity to meet with most of our department heads so if we have an interest in a different department or interest in what that department does for the life of the theater we can communicate with them. We also have mentors. Our mentors have a huge role in kind of helping us make sure, again, we're getting everything out of our fellowship but also my mentor has been connecting me with people in the Bay Area to make sure that I'm setting up coffee dates with those people to see what I want to do next or how that's going to develop when we had our mid-season check-in she asked me what I wanted to do next and we talked about what I could be doing now and how I could be using my resources here at Berkeley Rep to kind of advance myself beyond this fellowship as well so that was really great, really welcome. We also, I mean, from time to time we'll have some kind of workshop for a resume or something like that depending on what you want but what's great is that you can always ask like if there's something that you're interested in you can say like I'm interested in this like is there something we can do around that and usually Anthony's really great about making something happen so, yeah. Nice. Yeah, he is. Shout out to Anthony. Props. Live stream as well. So Tiana, what about at Arena Stage what professional development opportunities do they offer your fellows? We have our, once or twice a month we do have meetings with our program manager that's an opportunity for all the fellows to get together and then we usually also get to sit down with the head of one of the departments here at Arena so it's very much we get a sense of what each department does and just a conversation about where that person is in their career and how they got to where they are so that's professional development that we have and then our program manager is fabulous about asking us about what our next steps are you know where we want to go from where we want to go from our fellowship and he's really great about connecting us with people in the community and trying to give us those contacts that will help us post fellowship. Nice, nice. And Molly, how about at Hartford Stage? Sure, like many of you we also have a bunch of seminars and meetings periodically both to learn about different departments and the work that everyone's doing in them and about our season as a whole and also more specific target to resume building for future steps, etc. My supervisor has also been wonderful at just highlighting to me what might be some next steps that I could take and some things that I hadn't even thought about before so that's wonderful. We also have a networking day every March where they bring us into New York for a day and set up one-on-one meetings with people we might be interested in positions we might be interested in throughout the city to give us a chance to just kind of pick brains outside of our own company as well. Nice. So all these companies are pushing towards connecting you with people in your area to really expand your horizons after the fellowship. That's great to hear. Now, as we spoke about before we began the live stream. A lot of our fellowships began mid-summer and usually end around the same time. So we're halfway through, for most of us we're halfway through, we're almost finishing and I'd like to know what has been the coolest experience that you've had so far in your fellowship? Something that surprised you? Something that's just been like, this is really awesome. Anybody can start that off. I know it's like... There have been a lot of really cool moments. I know I'm having a hard time thinking of mine too because there have been a lot of moments. The one that's coming to my mind right now is we're working on a workshop right now of a new play and I've been at theaters before that have been workshopping new plays but as the particular fellowship that I have I've for the first time kind of been able to just sit in on a process that is brand new and kind of developing in the moment and I've been on new play processes before that are going to production like I said before but this play is in a stage where like entire acts of it could change overnight and new songs could get added that you didn't know about 10 a.m. that have been added at 2 p.m. and being in that fast-paced environment of like okay we've created a space for this play to kind of like find itself that is really really an exciting thing to just observe and like contribute to however I can I've been like trying to provide research as a dramaturge when we're possible but like mostly I'm just there for the ride which is really cool just like okay this is gonna switch up at any moment I'm ready that's cool and how about you? We're currently in the midst of our fellowship project so essentially any of the fellows that are interested are coming together and we are given the resources and the support from the institution to produce any play that we want so it could be devised and it could be what we're doing is we are producing Orlando and we've just announced that so it's very exciting so we're producing it we're fundraising for it our crew is made up of local artists and ourselves we actually I think have a couple of the Berkeley rep fellows joining us too so we're networking and we're making connections and we're creating art that is important to us and ACT is giving us the space and the support from our managers and our supervisors to put this on so that we have this experience of producing a play at ACT aside from that personally I am really passionate about mentorship and working with young artists so something about my fellowship that's been really important to me has been getting to know a lot of the students that come through our conservatory a lot of our young artists of color coming through and like I'm able to be there for them and give them the support that they need in you know in middle school or in junior high in high school it depends on where you're at so that has been really special for me to be able to be a part of that and provide opportunities for young artists like me that's nice Molly how about for you the way that this apprenticeship has been structured at least in my eyes I'm not sure about the rest of you I've definitely seen it as the first couple months you're settling in you're learning, you're expected to ask questions or whatever and now that we've kind of crossed the halfway point it's really about taking initiative and you know acting on your own which is really cool to kind of feel that shift happen organically and so I feel like it's not necessarily a moment but more of a trajectory and now that there's a point where I feel like I've been given more responsibility and more oh gosh what's the word projects outside of justice company so for example just last week I was working on writing testimony for state public budget hearing for us to present so it was exciting to kind of have that extra step and extra project outside of just our walls too great and Tiana what about at arena stage so consistently the most exciting thing for me is the opportunity to sit in on senior staff meetings at arena a big reason why I wanted to do this fellowship was I just kind of wanted to see how the machine worked I wanted to get a real sense of how decisions are made in the nonprofit theater sector so just being able to see the heads of the department really sit down and figure out be it season planning or an HR issue that comes up just really how all of that then gets funneled down through the organization so that's always really the highlight of my week any Tuesday or Thursday I'm so excited because it's a senior staff meeting so that's awesome being able to soak in all that knowledge that you can right exactly yes you're not a better one I should never speak first when we got in our applications for the ground for summer residency lab there's like hundreds I think we got the most ever this year there were like 600 applications and these are applications for projects that artists want to work on and that better like brand new projects that work on so whatever they're thinking about whatever they're passionate about that moment and so to read all of these applications you kind of get a pulse of like what's happening beneath the surface of the theater like that's really cool to observe it's like okay in like two or three years these are the things that are going to be on the artistic right this is kind of like look yeah this is where things are trending that was actually really cool yes you get it insight into people's minds like okay this is where we're going to be and like this is what the landscape might look like or this is like 30 projects that are in some way dealing with this one thing that no theater right now is dealing with this is what we're going to be dealing with soon yeah yeah I agree I actually thought of a moment myself that's been pretty cool was earlier on we were able to collaborate with ACT actually on the every 28 hours project and seeing how all of the regional theaters came together and just that process of like trying to put on the show with this important message just that was really awesome for me to be a part of that and just see that whole process come to life and see the production come to be so yeah this it's been great experiences I'd like to ask you all about your blending your personal goals with the work of your fellowship because I know a lot of people come into these fellowships with goals to be artists to be directors, actors even writers and even those that are in administration just how do you balance your personal goals with the workload of the fellowship or have you found the balance or are you still there's not one answer for this you know everybody's on their journey so if I could go ahead and answer I kind of find them one in the same I think that this opportunity to be a fellow and to observe how the organization is working it feeds into me deciding what I do want to do post fellowship so I consistently while I'm at my desk while I am working on arena specific things I'm also always thinking oh well this is maybe something I can take and try to apply to a project that I'm doing personally or this is maybe this is a person that I could try to contact for something that I'm interested in doing so I kind of think of think of them as one of the same thing okay okay yeah I'm a writer I'm a playwright and also a dramaturg and part of the reason I thought this fellowship would be so useful is because I've been immersed in new work and so I've been it's like a masterclass for me observing playwrights and dramaturgs doing what they do on this like professional level so it kind of gives me a vision for like where I could where I could end up or where I might want to end up simultaneously I've been trying to I mean it is hard to in terms of the craft itself have time to write or develop your work at the same time as a fellowship that is a bit of a tradeoff but I think ultimately it's preparing me for taking that step and the connections I'm building here and the ethic I'm building here is going to serve me as I go back to that after the fellowship so I'm still writing I don't have as much time to develop work with collaborators while I'm doing this like full-time thing but everything that I'm doing here is informing that path I feel similarly where I think a lot of my personal goals are being narrowed down or becoming more specific because of the work that I'm doing at my fellowship and the people that I'm interacting with like I'm trying to stretch my writing muscles too and one of my supervisors is a playwright and so we'll work together and then at the same time on lunch breaks or whatever we'll talk about her plays and I'll become inspired to continue my own personal work as well as in my professional career I know that I want to stay within the field of education but I don't know what that means yet even what I'm going to do after this fellowship I'm not 100% sure about the specific place or specific job that I want to go to but the people that I'm talking to I'm getting to see what their trajectory has been like and I'm getting to see what's possible within the realm of theater because people have jobs that I would never have even imagined existing within theater and they take full ownership of those jobs and I'm like that is something that I'm interested in and that's something I can create at another theater something that I can do so I think that's been really really great to see at my fellowship Molly would you like to add anything? Sure so I think similarly before I started this my life up until this point has been kind of consistently a mix of my creative work and administrative work and so for this year I really wanted to just devote myself to admin and see what I thought about it and what I liked what I didn't like just to have that experience to not be split and it's been super informative so I've really taken this year to just take every opportunity that's been given to me to put myself out there in this world and like Lena I'm not 100% sure what the next steps are but if nothing else it's super great information for me for how much of each of those pieces I need for my life yeah thank you thank you all so Ankita I want to address this question to you first you can take some time to think about it just uh so why do you feel young artists or career changing artists should apply to a fellowship really good question of course this is how you feel why do you think they should? I mean there are a lot of really good reasons and it kind of depends definitely on like what's right for you at the moment that you're in in your life but I can say I mean for me personally I I graduated from college and then I got a job at a theater company doing something administrative which for me personally wasn't what I wanted to be doing in the long run it was kind of like I wanted to have a full time job and pay my bills and also stay connected to a theater that I really loved and so this was kind of a compromise for me but after like a year year and a half of doing that the work wasn't what I was interested in so I started doing other things at that theater that were like I started reading scripts for the literary department because that's what I really wanted to do and I loved everyone at that theater it's just the specific work I was doing wasn't it and so like in order to kind of shift into the literary dramaturgy world a fellowship was a really good opportunity to like leverage what skills I had build this other repertoire of abilities of skills of experience and then also use that opportunity to launch into the next phase fellowships are I think a really good stepping stone they're a really good jumping point and you can kind of like take them in any direction afterwards but they can really help you to I guess like we've been saying focus in on like what your goals are and shift towards the path that you're more interested in yeah yeah that's a perfect way to say it stepping stone is the perfect way to think about it Tiana if I could address the same question to you people should apply for fellowships of course well I mean it really is just the hands-on experience the hands-on experience and being able to have a set of skills and learn a new set of skills that you can then apply in however you see fit post fellowship I think another important thing to consider is also just developing a network of contacts if you know that this is the world that you want to be in and you know that this is for the most part where where you are going to the direction you're going to end up going I think taking this opportunity to perfect the skills that you have build on the skills that you have and just to find and get your network be that your fellow fellows or people that you get introduced to in your theater scene I think that that's also a really important factor in applying for a fellowship definitely definitely Molly why do you feel yeah I've approached this year as an extension of my education and I think that's been it's been wonderful for me just to gain experience like you all said hands-on and knowing that it's so transferable and even if I'm not like regardless of where I end up next whatever I learn this year will be incredibly beneficial this is actually my second fellowship post grad I was a freelance relations intern at another theater center stage Baltimore where I met Tiana and I think that these fellowships have been so beneficial for me in the way that I my past internship I had no experience in the box office or as a house manager like none whatsoever and they still hired me because they saw that I was very passionate about theater and about learning and about educating myself and I think that's the most important part of being a fellow and owning this fellowship is that you have to be here and you're willing to learn because they give so many educational opportunities I would definitely not be the theater artist that I am today if not for these experiences just because I've gotten the chance to see kind of from every single department how everyone collaborates together how the theater cannot run without every single department without box office, graphics, marketing artistic all of us working together there's no way that's going to happen and sometimes you're sticking to the department and you're kind of just surrounded by that world it's hard to see what everyone else in the theater is doing this fellowship these fellowships are really good for you know helping you see how the whole machine works so showing that the collaboration goes beyond the stage until the administration as well theater all around is just collaborative so posing this question to you all three tips that you've taken from your fellowship or apprenticeship so far that you would pass on and again take your time whoever whenever you're ready just tips for theater makers or for applicants to fellowships for applicants to fellowships sorry thank you for clarifying could I could I chime in yeah go ahead Molly okay so I would say ask questions put yourself out there and say yes and take every opportunity that comes to you those are good I guess in that same aim just being aggressively open and aggressively seeking opportunity just being able to take whatever comes to you and being able to latch on to any project that may present itself also this idea of sort of blooming where you're planted if you're having a rough day in your fellowship that is fine you have to figure out how to make it work and how to still do your best work no matter what while you are being open to any opportunity that presents itself to you and then I also think just I think it's important to just be yourself be that in your actual position in your application to just the organization also wants to know who you are you know so I think that that's also equally as important I think on that note of like the organization wants to know who you are like I would put your opinions on the table and like your thoughts on the table I mean when that opportunity arises when it's appropriate but your input is not you know it's it's wanted you're here you're not just here to you're here to learn and you're here to contribute and I think that yeah I think that we have input that is valuable and that's why we're in these fellowships that we're in and so it's important to remember that I agree I've been told numerous times by the supervisors that we're here for that reason that we offer that fresh perspective for programs that may have been around for so long that they need to stay updated you know 2017 we need to make sure that us coming up from college or wherever we're coming from there some people there a little past graduation better maybe changing their careers they want to get that fresh perspective from all of us so that they can stay a strong theater in this world that we live in today for sure I agree with all those especially you know being inquisitive and asking all those questions because we're kind of in a interesting position as fellows and apprentices where it's kind of unrestricted access to everything in the theater so you can dip into a rehearsal and ask a director on the side like hey you know what's going on tell me about yourself or you can stop in the managing director's office and be like tell me what you do so having that unrestricted access to ask all these questions and get as much knowledge as you can it's just a beautiful opportunity and asking questions being of asking questions and people who are thinking about applying can you speak to the application process for your theater for your internship and yeah how does one go about applying for a fellowship at your theater I guess we'll start here and work our way around yeah so at Berkeley there's an application process online for the literary and the directing fellowships there's also a written component for the directing fellowship as well I'm not a university for my fellowship I should only talk about me for my fellowship there was a written component so I had to submit writing samples that were either like program essays or script reports or something that reflected the kind of writing that I'd be doing in the fellowship and then there's a cover letter you can talk about why you're interested in the fellowship or like what you're hoping to get out of it and like why that theater specifically why this theater specifically and there was a resume component and then like yeah basic information so yeah it was pretty straight oh and I needed three letters of recommendation so for me those came from like my mentors during college or I had a previous internship someone from there wrote me a recommendation like a summer internship during college and just like stuff like previous mentors that wrote recommendations for my application nice and was there interview or yes there was an interview yes there was my interview was over the phone because I was in New York at the time and so yeah there was the application and then I got an email being like we want to interview um had the interview and then there was like a little bit of waiting and then yeah and then an offer nice and I think uh also for Brekliweb for some of the uh production ones such as scenic art uh lighting you can and I'm not sure about sound you can submit your portfolio your work yeah and uh yeah they can see what you're doing or like if you have a website or something like that you can point to that as well and and that just helps people like know more about this is about what you do and why you might be a good fit look at my work yeah hire me but how about an ACT yeah similar basic components resume cover letter personal statement three letters of recommendation um also online so most of these you go to the website of the theater and they'll have them available um and then portfolios and writing samples as appropriate um my one big recommendation for resumes that I learned at our resume workshop at ACT so lovely um is that theaters about storytelling so you use this opportunity to tell your story through your resume your cover letter and your personal statement in varying degrees of you know how much detail you want to put into each one um but this is your chance to shine and really tell them you know who you are where you're coming from and what you want to do and what you can contribute to this theater um following up with that there's also an interview I think I had two Skype interviews with my personal supervisor who's the conservatory associate so I had that with the associates and then with the directors following up with that just to see if they would like me and wanted to work with me that's what the interviews are for they want to see that if you're somebody that meshes well with the theater um you tell them what you can give and you also tell them what you want to receive from the fellowship because it has to be like a symbiotic relationship yeah they're learning from you you're learning from them Molly how about at Hartford stage similar process and again it's all listed online too um you require a cover letter or resume and three references and then a few of the apprenticeship positions also need writing samples as well um and all of those resumes are read by one person first and then from that are filtered down throughout the rest of the organization and the different departments um and there is an interview component as well mine was over the phone um I think most people's were and yeah but going off of that just do research beforehand look at the mission statement of the theaters um look at what their programs are what their initiatives are that make them unique um and speak to that because that makes a big difference for sure for sure Tiana um how about you how about everything so um similar to everyone else you have the online application your cover letter your resume meet three references um writing samples and a portfolio depending on which department you're applying for um arena does also ask for a diversity statement so just a quick paragraph about your personal commitment to diversity equity parity um personally um I just as far as your application I do think it's important to make sure that you are reflecting who you are through your application similar to what Lena was saying you want to tell your personal story um I think it's also important to make sure you look at the mission statement and make sure that you have questions make sure that there if there's something that sticks out to you something that you want to know more about feel free to ask that because I think that says a lot that you one you did your research and that you're this is a company that you're really interested in well-informed as you can be and being as prepared as you can that's real and inquisitive I mean for me my uh my interview was with Madeline Olden who's the director of our new development programs and like I just had questions for her as a person like if I didn't get a chance to talk to her again like I wanted to know things about what she did in that moment and I think that that allowed us also to just have a easy conversation that made it less stressful as well yeah it's being genuinely interested yeah yeah be interested that's what it is because you're giving your time up for you're giving your time a year for this theater you want to make sure that they're doing what's exciting for you right yeah like you said it's a learning experience for both so you're supposed to gain something from them gain something from you now I want to finally ask you all going into the next phase of your life how do you feel your fellowship has prepared you for that and even if you don't know what how's it informed how to I mean it's an experience to go through the fellowship and learn that hey maybe this isn't what I want to do or always gain something better of yourself at the end so how do you feel it's prepared you for the next phase the next thing that I'm personally doing and that might happen here in the Bay Area where it might happen in New York is I'm going to get a part-time job to pay my bills and I'm going to I'm going to write and I'm going to produce and I'm going to drop my own stuff and I'm really excited about that I'm really terrified about that I'm prepared for it though because of conversations that I've had with people here from playwrights that I've talked to you while they've been here developing their shows and just ask them what were they doing and hearing again and again and again that like at some point you're just going to have to you know go do the thing yeah and conversations that I've had with my mentors here who both deal in new play development a lot and so are also you know aware of that that basic fact of art making and are able to kind of help me know that like I have support in them and I can continue my relationships with them when I leave here and conversation that I had with our artistic director here who like very graciously made time for me and said yeah you know like the next thing to do is really take that plunge and here is some ways that you might go about doing that but it really depends on the person and so like just for me it's been about giving me that confidence to go ahead nice nice I've had the best mentors in some of my fellowships because I mean let's be real going into theater post-grad is scary sometimes often yes yes and I'm so so grateful for my mentors that I've had in particular the one that I have right now she is such a powerful woman in the workplace in the office and I'm learning so much from her just about you know what it's like to take up space to speak up to know that my opinion is valued that I should be you know able to say the things that I want to say at a meeting she challenges me to say at least one thing at a meeting no matter what meeting it is even if it is with the department heads even if it is just agreeing with something that they've said just to know that you know I have a voice and that it's okay for me to speak up and that has been it seems so small but it's really powerful for me to hear that I think as a woman and especially as a woman of color it's very hard to break into the industry and so to have that kind of support and to know that you know I am backed up by these people who you know are powerful in their own ways in theater that is so good for me to have and I want you know that opportunity that experience to be had by other you know theater artists who are coming up and want to have a chance at these fellowships I have one more thing I remember what it is so we'll leave it at that it comes back to you Molly how about you I think the biggest thing for me that I'll take away from it is like we maybe talked about earlier a network and not only a network of people but also an understanding of how to build that network going forward and it is constantly accumulating and building and so just having the ability and the knowledge and the awareness that I have that knowledge to go forward and reach out to people and to make connections it's a pretty small world and it gets smaller every day and it's incredible and Tiana yes similar to Molly just a network the theater world is small so just having a network of people that I could go out and say hey do you have work for me or hey I'm really interested in connecting with you or working with you in this way also just understanding how the machine works just having that basic understanding I think goes a really long way and that's something that I think we're all fortunate to regardless of our individual positions we all have a better understanding of how the theater as a whole works which I think is something specific to a fellowship that's really incredible yeah I agree wholeheartedly with all that you all have said just added in my own little thing just including the network even the network amongst the fellows in my program like those are people in similar situations that I am and I know that I can call on them to help me out with projects that I may have or I can you know in the same way help them out so the fellow connection of course the theater's connections and just endowing my fellowship endow me with the skills to be able to be a teaching artist now like I now have the skills to make curriculum and go out into schools and help teach students so it's yeah you may not know what the next step is going to be but there are always those little skills that like I think we mentioned earlier that creeping you may not realize but you have them now to be in your back pocket to be like oh I can do this I didn't know I could but hey guess what I'm here and I can do it so I want to thank the panel again Tiana thank you so much for taking the time out and joining us of course thank you guys so much I enjoyed it yes keep doing great things at arena stage Molly thank you for joining us thank you all it was a pleasure to talk with you yes keep being great out there in Hartford Lena thank you for being here and sharing your time and keep killing it over there at ACT and Ankita hold it down thank you for coming out and viewers thank you so much for watching and tuning in I hope that you gain something influential from this if you're interested in applying for a fellowship Berkeley reps applications are live they'll be open until March 10 you can visit Berkeley reps website and if you're interested in ACT Hartford stage arena stage or any other regional theater that offers a fellowship be sure to search google search there's also a list on the website with the information that you can check out so yeah please get out there apply it's your opportunity thank you so much for joining in and we'll catch you later