Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Bailey Moran, this week’s GCSU Campus Celebrity! It’s hard to miss this beauty with her bright eyes and sparkling personality, because she seems to be involved in such a great many things on campus. Apart from being an exceptional student who was recently accepted into the prestigious GCSU cohort program, Moran is also heavily involved with the theatre and women’s studies program on campus. We caught up with her in between her finals and improv practice to ask her a few questions to give our readers the inside scoop about her awesomeness.
What made you choose Georgia College and State University?
I chose GCSU for many reasons but mainly because of the reputation of its’ program in Education, specifically Middle Grades. I loved the idea of the cohort placement and appreciated the good reputation the program has all over the state. I came in as an honors student with a scholarship which was a big sway and has continued to motivate me to do my very best academically. The overall environment of the small college town where you pass by people you know on a regular basis pretty much sold me on it.
What made you choose Middle Grades Education?
I’ve loved working with kids ever since I started babysitting when I was eleven. Ever since then I have continued babysitting as well as working at summer camps and even interning in the education department of a theater in my home town. Leading others and teaching has always come naturally to me and I thought it was important that I spend my life doing something I love, regardless of expected earnings. Middle schoolers in particular have always meant a lot to me because they are a part of the most unappreciated age group. It is an extremely difficult time both developmentally and socially so they really need teachers that are passionate about helping them learn, rather than the burntout teachers on a tenure track that usually end up teaching them.
When did you start doing theatre?
I started in community theatre when I was about seven years old. I thought I was going to be an actress professionally until about halfway through high school in my magnet performing arts program when I realized I loved teaching much more. Theatre will always be a passion for me though.
What was your favorite role you’ve ever had?
In my senior year of high school I finally got to play a lead role in a play rather than ensemble, and that was Angelique in Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid. I got to delve into comedia dell’arte which is fascinating to me, and participate in the brilliant comedy that is Moliere. I also got to wear a gigantic expensive dress and wave a fan around which is always fun.
Talk to me about your mad improvisational skills
I became interested in improv in high school when I had just started getting involved at my local theater. They were starting up a high school improv troupe called GET IT (Georgia Ensemble Theatre Improv Troupe) and I was one of its fledgling members. Along with my involvement in that troupe, I also assisted the middle school improv program regularly, which only helped my interest in teaching that age group grow. When I got to college, I heard there was an improv troupe here called The Armed Farces. I was one of the most experienced improvisers there since they were basically starting from scratch after their previous seniors had graduated. This past year I was their President and was proud to carry on the legacy of Qate Bean, the teacher that helped start up GET IT back when I was in high school who also happened to be the founder and President of The Armed Farces at Georgia College.
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What do you like to do in your spare time?
Other than theatre, improv, and teaching, I am really proud to have become involved in the Women’s Center’s new program called STEP UP! It focuses on bystander intervention education to prevent sexual assault, dating and domestic violence. It has already started to be put into place as a seminar for organizations, classes, and residence halls, and next year will also be available in freshman seminars. I am a proud feminist and anyone who is friends with me on Facebook or follows me on Tumblr knows that well. Any sort of impact I can make on another person to understand the issues that mean a lot to me is worth the stigma I may get for it.
Who has been your favorite teacher?
In middle school, I had one teacher that really inspired me and that was my seventh grade Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Camp. She encouraged all of her students to use what they are passionate about to assist in their learning and truly cared that each of us had the opportunity to learn and thrive,even when most other teachers didn’t necessarily believe in us. I hope to one day be able to inspire my students in the way that she did.
What is one thing no one else knows about you?
Only my friends who are really close to me know what religion I am, and I usually have to explain it to them because it isn’t very well-known. I am a proud Unitarian Universalist. UU-ism is a theologically diverse religion that encourages people to seek their own spiritual path. UUs can come from any religious background, and hold beliefs and adhere to morals from a variety of cultures and religions. We believe that what binds us together as a faith community is not a creed, but a belief in the power and sacredness of covenant based on unconditional love. Basically, we hold seven principles and they all follow the basic guidelines of “believe what you want and love each other”.
If you were an animal what would you be and why?
I know this is probably cheating since it isn’t real but I would be a Phoenix. Ever since I read Harry Potter I identified with Fawkes because of his ability to rise from the ashes after dying. I switched schools several times and moved a lot so I thought about those experiences as being kind of like a rebirth.
What has been your proudest moment and /or achievement?
Since I went to this school specifically for the cohort program, my best achievement would have to be receiving my acceptance letter into the Middle Grades cohort. It was a recognition of all of my hard work and dedication and felt like the College of Education as a whole saying “We see your potential as a great teacher” which is an amazing feeling.
What advice do you have for other college women?
Live for the present. This is supposed to be the most fun part of your life so don’t spend every minute focused on what you should be doing to make your future what you want it to be or constantly reliving the past. Take some time to enjoy what you have and don’t take the people of value in your life for granted. I wish someone would have told me that going into college.
What is your life motto?
“To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson