When I sat down for my first advising appointment freshman year, Professor Singer gave me a piece of advice that I have since shared with every freshman I’ve met: “Take something out of your comfort zone. Something that has always interested you, something that you never thought you would take but had always thought about taking.”
On a whim, I signed up for Introduction to Theater (“Baby Drama”) for my first Arts class. I ended up in Jim Dennen’s 9:40 to 11:00 section with fifteen other fantastic people, and we all walked out of that first class a little bit terrified. One of the other students was my next-door neighbor, and she had taken theater classes in high school and was planning on becoming a Drama major. In fact, the vast majority of my class had at least one school play or musical under their belt and a Drama major in mind. Except for me, it felt like. I had zero theater experience and planned on majoring in Anthropology and English.
But I never once thought of dropping the class. Theater had always intrigued me—the idea that you could write something and then watch it breathe in front of you is so magnificently wonderful. Theater also terrified me. I’m shy by nature, and I flush bright red with embarrassment at least a few times a day, whether or not the person doing the embarrassing thing is me, my friend, a random stranger, or someone on television who is being paid to embarrass themselves. So enrolling in Theater was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I had gone to college with the mentality that I was going to push out of the over-cautious cage that I had trapped myself in throughout high school.
The drop/add period passed, and I found myself reading long essays about the intricacies of theater, Aristotle’s Poetics, and a host of plays that I never would have discovered on my own. Every time the sessions combined for a discussion or lecture from one of the professors, I was riveted—theater is such a unique art, and the theories and motivations behind it created discussions and conversations and opinions that were entirely different from any other class I had taken.
Our assignments, or “Problems,” were some of the most difficult things I have ever attempted in my life. I smeared makeup all over my face, dressed up as a man, played Ron Weasley, wrote a play based on David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” speech, and had the opportunity to write a scene in which the plucky side character archetype realizes her role and takes charge of the scene. The work was hard, exhausting, and the most fun homework I have ever had.
When I was accepted into Dennen’s “The Director” this semester, I walked into that classroom with some trepidation, but a whole lot more confident than before. In Baby Drama, I had learned to speak more clearly, share my opinions more confidently, and accept criticism with grace. This past semester, I have learned how to lead a group of people, how to pull profound ideas from a script, and how to (attempt to) show these things on stage. I have worked with some of the most talented people I will likely ever meet in an environment where we were all constantly learning from and laughing with one another. I have discovered how truly beautiful the smallest movements and stage pictures can speak volumes. I have spent six hours a week in one of the most thought-provoking, mentally strenuous classes I’ve ever taken. I have loved every minute of it. I have gained a profound respect for the brave, genius, creative souls who dedicate their lives to this magnificent art form, and I am so grateful to have shared the stage and the audience with them.
So, to Gordon, Diego, Ella, Erica, Sarah, Adam, Molly, Laurel, Ally, Mariah, Rachel, Sam, Meredith, Jeffrey, Ben, Arianna, Chris, Willa, Rebecca, Kit, Natalie, Henry, and Jim: thanks, fellas, for letting this non-major hang around…and for changing her life a little in the process.
Image credits: Taylor Hazan