“To live will be an awfully big adventure.” – Peter Pan
Jessica Lavelle, 3rd year drama major, is currently a Resident Advisor in Mesa Court, Selva. Her love for Disneyland has definitely implemented a theme in her hall. She’s got a Peter Pan theme happening and that makes it totally understandable for her story to start with a Peter Pan quote.
There are many folks who are talented in the Arts and Jessica is one of them. She started by saying that the community and the opportunities are her favorite part of being a drama major. The Arts is “such a small, tight-knit community within this huge school,” and to have this community allows her to have many things to do. Another thing she likes about the Arts is that despite the competition for roles or jobs, there is lots of support. In fact, some of the greatest people she knows today were people she met through the Department of Drama, a place she considers a good environment for learning.
During her first year, she was heavily involved in the Drama department working backstage during shows. She also was involved in Dumbledore’s Anteaters – the Harry Potter club on campus. After all, she is a huge Harry Potter fan and to have people to talk to about all things Harry Potter is very exciting. As for her second year, she took a new twist and was Events Chair for Middle Earth Community Council, a position that took up most of her time. She also did Improv Revolution and participated in Improv Workshops.
When asked about her favorite memories from her first and second year, she summed it up as, “My favorite memories always come out of what I do with my friends.” According to Jessica, college is a place where you can meet your best friends for life. She has received this opportunity and she’s gotten to make great memories. To her, the little things – conversations over lunch, movie nights and birthday hangouts – give you the best memories with the most meanings.
Like most people, the hardest part of her first year was adjusting. She came to UCI without knowing anyone and she was entirely alone. The way she saw it, she had the chance to be whoever she wanted to be and do whatever she wanted to do. However, she also viewed this freedom as a huge responsibility. Most of it involved her trying to figure out who she was and who she wanted to be.
Given that Jessica is an RA, she feels she doesn’t have much time for anything else. She does continue to audition for shows, musicals and Improv teams in Claire Trevor School of the Arts. She is, on the other hand, looking forward to applying to be a part of SPOP, a Campus Rep and Peer Academic Advisor. On being an RA, Jessica mentions, “I absolutely love being an RA. Each and every day I love my residents more and more. They are all absolutely wonderful! They are what bring me joy. This job can be so demanding and so hard at times but it’s the relationships that you build with your residents that make it all worth it.” Of course, she loves performing no matter what it is, so whenever she has the chance to be involved, it’s always fun.
Not far from her 4th year, Jessica hopes to accomplish a lot before graduating: “I want to get involved in as much as possible and I want to be able to leave feeling like I have taken advantage of all that this wonderful school has had to offer me. I also hope that in the next year and a half that I have here I can prepare myself for actually living on my own and making a life for myself.”
Other than her Peter Pan words of wisdom, Jessica admires these two quotes:
“Say yes and you’ll figure it out afterwards.” –Tina Fey
“I believe that people do things before they are ready.” –Amy Poehler
What she wants readers to take away from these quotes and her story is that life shouldn’t be taken for granted. Rather, life should be lived to the fullest – no matter how corny that sounds. Lastly, approaching things with a positive attitude allows being able to completely enjoy life.