The experience that I will take away from Arts in Performance is built on the wealth of new things that I tried thanks to the course. Before the class, I had never really listened to Blues, or even heard of Buddy Guy. Now I can say I'm a fan. I have seen more performances this year in the last nineteen years of my life combined. There were good times and bad times, but I don't regret going to any of the concerts. I was surprised by the things I liked, I didn't expect to like the Blues. Blues is the type of music my father listens to and his music doesn't always suit me. I was surprised by the diversity of the shows we saw. I almost expected each of them to be a musical or comedy because that's what an advisor told me the course was like. Wesley Stace's Cabinet of Wonders was a funny musical at times, but we didn't get to the musical until the end, which was almost best for the last moment for me at least; Imaginary Invalid was my favorite show in the “firm”. I was challenged by patterns or shows that I didn't agree with or didn't understand. Stupid economics didn't convince me because I thought the information was common knowledge. I didn't feel challenged by the message but by the lack of deeper thought I needed to keep my attention. I found the group work aspect stimulating. I worked with bands in high school, but I was nowhere near as difficult to get people together. I sometimes felt like we would never have something that I felt comfortable giving back. Even on the day of our presentation, I was still worried that I hadn't spent enough time on it. However, the hardest thing in class was stepping out of my comfort zone and acting silly, or dancing with a group of strangers. There were days...... middle of paper...... it is that of a teenager who had seen the same act three times in the space of two days. I liked Water by the Spoonful, but it was low-key. The subject was heavy and required a lot of digestion. I don't know if I was prepared for what the show asked me to do at that point. It took me a few days to get into parts of the series. The meanings behind the drugs and the ghost were parts that I liked and that we discussed because it helped me connect some of the confusing thoughts I had in the series. I really loved this course. It was exactly what I was looking for: something new and fun. I spent a lot of time working in general academia and it was nice to get into a more creative environment where I could move freely and see things I never would have been able to discover otherwise. If there was a second half of the course, I would definitely take it.