Student Blog: Welcome to Senior Year!

We did it, folks! Senior year is upon us! I can already tell that this year is going to be a vastly different experience than any that came before. I went back to school on July 17th (which, if you’re not from Arizona, will sound crazy). The problem is, when it’s 120 degrees outside, there isn’t much to do anyway, so we might as well be in school and get longer breaks during cooler seasons. This year, I only have a half day, and that has definitely made an impact on my daily life.

I start my day off with AP English Literature and Composition, which I’m really excited for. We study some plays, including my favorite Shakespeare piece: Macbeth. We’ll also be talking about characterization, storytelling, and tons of other stuff that actually connects to my art and what I want to do in life. It will definitely be much more entertaining than AP English Language. We start analyzing our first novel next week, The Haunting of Hill House, which is supposed to be a really fun way to kick off the year. It will take us up into the fall as well, so it will be a fun text to work on during spooky season!

After AP Lit, I am a teaching assistant for Theatre Workshop, our school’s advanced acting class for junior high students. Getting to connect with a younger generation is so inspiring, and the amount of passion that I’ve seen from these kids already is beyond inspiring. Plus, my sister is in the class, so I get to spend an extra hour a day with her (for better or worse). As an aspiring theatre teacher, the most rewarding part of the experience is getting to work closely with my own theatre teacher and observe her in her element. While some teachers assign their assistants to just make copies or erase boards, I get to actually be apart of the space and enrich the learning environment for the students while also developing my own artistry and skills as an educator. 

Then, I head to Chorale, which is the highest-level concert choir on campus. I jumped all the way down from Tenor I to Bass II this year in an effort to develop my lower range. I am the Bass section leader, which means that I am responsible for teaching harmonies and musicality to the whole section. I have had to rehash some long-untouched piano skills, but it’s been enjoyable thus far nonetheless. My goal this year in choir is to be the voice that I didn’t hear last year when circumstances got unpleasant, and so far I’d say I’ve done a pretty good job at making sure everyone feels heard, welcome, and loved. I will be auditioning for Arizona’s All-State Show Choir and All-State Jazz Choir in the coming months, so I’ve been more focused than ever in Chorale as I try to hone my skills as much as I can before those two competitive auditions. 

For my final class of the day, I have Company Performance Theatre. I am one of 4 returning members from last year, as the other 6 graduated in May. This year, we have 12 members, and I am already beyond excited about working with them. I have my competition pieces picked out for the most part, and just can’t wait to start actually acting with this group. Today, we had a really fun socratic seminar about some Stanislavski we read, and it reminded me how in awe I am of everyone in the space’s different artistic perspectives.

After school, I go home to work on my online classes. I always forget how much I have to explain the context of online school to those older than me, since it seems like such a normalized part of our generation’s culture. Online, I am still finishing my last semester of Spanish II from the summer as well as working on College Algebra and AP Macroeconomics. The workload is definitely more than I am used to from an online class, but I have never really minded teaching myself. In in-person classes, I am always that guy who is the first one done with any given test or assignment, so it is definitely nice to be able to work at my own pace.

In addition to school, I’ve been in rehearsals for HADESTOWN: TEEN EDITION by Anaïs Mitchell, which opens on Wednesday. The show is coming together really well, but I have been doing double duty learning both a Fate track and a Worker track. Plus, I’ve been coordinating the marketing for this show, so I’ve had to work on graphics, photoshoots, surveys, and more. Overall, though, it’s been such a magical experience that I feel really blessed to be apart of. 

From a technical theatre perspective, my friend Catherine and I have been hard at work on a scenic design for our school’s fall play, Antigone in Munich by Claudia Haas. We’ve poured over 10 hours of prep work into this design to present it tomorrow, and I’m incredibly proud of our work. Even if we do not end up being the ones who get selected to use our design, I still have felt a tremendous growth in my technical skills in the scenic department throughout this process. This has led to me having a greater interest in helping out on build days for HADESTOWN, and considering the potential for me to further explore scenic design in the future.

College! The CommonApp opened today, so I am starting to get my letters of recommendation organized before I can actually start applying to my colleges. I am planning to pursue a degree in Theatre Education or Directing, with a minor in Dramaturgy, Directing, and/or Playwriting. I am so nervous and so excited at the same time to see where this process could take me!

Senior year has already been one like no other, and I look forward to continuing to update my blog with all the exciting events that take place over the course of the remaining 164 days until graduation!

To post a comment, you must register and login.