Finding the Balance

Finding the Balance by Sarah Malone Kenny

When Sobha asked me to write a blog post about work/life/school balance, I honestly laughed out loud. At first thought, I didn't think it was something I was managing all that well. In the past 6 months, I have started a new job, started grad school, gotten married, and co-chaired AATE's Theatre in Our Schools conference! 

When I talk about it all with my family and friends, they tell me I'm crazy and that they don't know how I'm doing it all. But in truth, it's really not all that hard! Every one of the things I listed has provided me with a lot of joy and satisfaction. Sure it's a lot, but it's all related (well, maybe not the getting married part), I have passion for what I'm doing, and each of these things feeds the others.

When I'm in class, I'm thinking about how everything I'm learning can help me do my job every day. And when I'm at work, I'm practicing what I'm learning. And co-chairing the Theatre In Our Schools conference beautifully tied it all together; TIOS was the first event where my work life and my school life truly intersected. It was so great to see colleagues I know from work and colleagues I know from school interacting with and learning from each other. And as a current graduate student, I was able to bring the perspective of another area of AATE's reach (and of course, score some field work hours!) to the conference.

Ultimately, what I've learned about balance in the past 6 months, is that it's all about joy, passion, and loving what you're doing. When you love coming to work each day and you love learning from your peers and teachers in the glamorous classrooms at CCNY, it all becomes a lot more manageable, productive, and, of course, joyful.