Student Blog: What Is This Feeling? Midterms, My Life, and Moving Forward

My name is Theron Abel and I am a Junior at Loyola University Chicago. I am majoring in Marketing with a minor in Theatre. Usually, when I tell people that I am a business major with a theater minor, they look at me as if I am absolutely insane (which is fair). I have a deep love for both of my studies, especially because the duality of the two allows me to meet and connect with so many different people. After I graduate, I hope to pursue a career in the marketing, management, or production aspects of theater. As for now, I simply have to push through my classes for three and a half more semesters!

This semester, while not technically super difficult, is still finding a way to kick my butt. I am taking sixteen credits total with classes ranging from Accounting to Musical Theatre Repertoire (yes, the duality is truly vast and incredible). I have found myself succeeding in my classes this semester, however the difficulty lies mostly outside the classroom. For one, my school has two primary campuses: the main campus where students reside and take the majority of their core classes, and the downtown campus which houses the business and communications buildings. It just so happened that I scheduled myself to have downtown classes five days a week this semester, but I live near the main campus. Thus, I find myself commuting to and from downtown Chicago to upper Chicago every single day. While the drive isn’t terrible, it sucks up just enough time for me to lose about an hour of important time every day. This is an hour that I could be spending doing work or something beneficial, such as rotting in bed watching Instagram reels.

Regardless of my travel affairs, I am truly enjoying the majority of my classes. One class of mine that particularly stands out is Business and Professional Speaking- a class I am required to take for my major- which focuses on learning how to address groups of people in a formal setting, as well as how to give sufficient speeches. After the first day of class, I came to realize that my theater career had prepared me tremendously for this class and the assignments it entails. One such assignment involved creating a brand and pitching the idea to the class, aiming to persuade the class to invest in the brand. Being the entrepreneurial mastermind that I am, I created “Conspiromance,” a dating service meant for conspiracy theorists. To go the extra mile, my partner and I presented the brand while wearing tin foil hats. This is the sort of legacy I am proud to leave behind.

Besides my classes, I am also a part of the cast of my school’s production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht. This show, while dark in content, has served as an outlet for me over the past couple of weeks, as it allows me to do what I love with people I love. When I am on stage, I forget about all of my homework and the things that are weighing on me. In that sense, performing is sort of a form of therapy- it reminds me who I am and grounds me enough for me to be able to push through all the troubles I face outside of the theater.

This semester will certainly test my ability to stay grounded and not lose sight of what I am here to do. However, I need to find moments where I can have fun at the same time. Finding this balance is truly a tale as old as time, and while this semester may be a bit of a beast, I will not let the beauty be lost.