Hey Cincy! It's Sammy Kanter from Transit Five Productions here, writing my first entry. I hope to bring a new perspective to the blog, writing about college life in addition to starting a
company with my high school buddies back here in Cincinnati. Not only will I update you on what I'm doing at school, but I'll also fill you in on what members of T5 are doing at their
various schools around the country.

On the T5 front, we just spent the weekend in Cincinnati holding auditions for our summer season. How about that snowstorm? At least I'm on spring break, and I'm currently at Disney
World right now! By the way, if you're in Disney anytime soon, check out "Finding Nemo the Musical" at the Animal Kingdom…great original music!

Anyway, I'm a junior at Syracuse University in upstate New York (talk about snow, this weekend was nothing!). I'm majoring in journalism with a minor in theater. You might ask, "how is a
journalism major relevant to theater?" I have some answers to that. I'm not sure exactly what I want to do with my life, but right now it's looking like I want to be in the theater
management/arts admin. field. I saw Syracuse with a great communication program, but also with arts opportunities to supplement my education. I realized an undergrad liberal arts degree
would best prepare me for the future. Not only would I learn to write from the best professionals in the world, I could find ways to apply things from the classroom to the arts through
Transit Five or other opportunities at school. Plus, I've been told grad school is for perfecting your craft.

At SU, I found it worked. I minored in theater, where I've taken a few theater literature and acting courses, and most notably a directing course from Bob Moss, the former Producing Artistic
Director of the Syracuse Stage. Brilliant man! I'm the co-producer of the First Year Players (FYP), a completely student-run theater organization on campus. FYP takes a group of 45
upperclassman that work on the production staff to welcome and enrich the college experience for 25 first-year students who make up the cast. The organization has been at SU from 16
years, and over 2000 people attend our productions in three nights. We're doing "Fame" this year, which I'll elaborate on when the show occurs in a couple of weeks.

I'm also the music director of an a cappella group, Oy Cappella. And this year I was asked to sit on an advisory board of the performing arts body, Pulse, who brings the diverse music and
dance acts to the university. I've assisted in event management and schmoozed with the likes of Savion Glover and the Alvin Ailey II dance company within the past few months.

Whew! As you can see, I have little spare time all trying to prepare T5 for the summer. But that's my case for liberal arts undergrad education. Even for those directing/acting people out
there, there's something to be said about a well-rounded student who can take that knowledge and apply it to characters on the stage. Well…I'm off to Disney's Hollywood Studios! Hope it
warms up back home!