Terea Abernathy has been the most dedicated member of Her Campus Auburn University since she joined over 2 years ago. She radiates positivity, and we love having her on the team.
Name: Terea Abernathy
Age: 21
Major: Theatre Production Design
Year: Junior
Awards: Deans List 2014-2015, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society
Involvement on campus: PLUS Scholar, New Media Club
What is it like being a theater major? It is C R A Z Y! Theatre majors, like most majors, have no concept of time. We’re always creating, painting, or building. It’s nonstop creation.
What all does that entail? I am a design and technology major in the theatre department, so my courses are centered around creation of the set actors perform on, the lights that illuminate the stage, and the sound that holds everything together. I am pretty much always in Telfair Peet working extremely hard painting something for a production.
Is there any cliche related to being a theater major, like people assume you have an easy major or something like that? Always. It is so tiresome to have to explain my career path to people. I feel as though we work just as hard as majors outside of the College of Liberals Arts. We are exercising our strengths in an artistic manner. People see theatre as just acting, as if sets, lights, sound just appear on opening night. They tend not to consider all the hard work that leads up to the final production.
What was the name of play you designed for? I designed the set for “Puttin’ on the Hits.” It was a musical review directed by Elizabeth Kling and Jeri Dickey. Hits was my first scenic design (the first scenic design done in the new Black Box space by a student), and I am so proud of the way it turned out. A lot of things changed from the beginning of pre-production up to opening night, but I got a great opportunity to create something for Auburn University.
You are always so positive and upbeat. How do you maintain the positivity? I think it’s my smile, I love to smile! I’ve always wanted to be someone that people want to be around and want to work with. Negativity and a pessimistic way of thinking cannot propel you forward in life.
What is your main advice for girls coming to college? My best advice would be to accept change. College is a place of growth in far more areas outside of your education status. You will start to become the women you are meant to be and that may mean changing social circles, changing habits and changing the way you think.
Why should collegiettes join Her Campus? Her Campus has to be one of my better college decisions. I have a lot fun coming up with interesting things to write and love reading articles written by other college-age women. Everything is so relatable that I scroll through articles yelling, “That’s so me!”
What’s your favorite part of being in Her Campus? My heart is happy when someone says they read my article and it made them smile, or laugh, or they could relate to the subject. I feel like I’ve done my job.