Student Blogger: Jordan Mincy

Each new audition season at Yale, I feel that I learn something new to bring with me into the next. I hope that by the end of my senior year, I have accumulated the most effective set of strategies to bring with me into a potential career. 

The tech weeks were approaching for both shows and academic work was not letting up. When I would get back to my dorm after late nights, I had no motivation to do homework but I had no choice as it would be due the next day. I was definitely feeling burnt out.

I think it is easy to look at rejections and jump to conclusions about your worth or talent. I try to avoid these thoughts and, instead, process the ways I can improve my performance for the next audition. I now understand that being considered as the perfect fit for a role is subjective.

As many college students do, I arrived on campus and was shocked by the amount of time I had. There were 2-3 lectures a day and I often had good breaks between them. I thought I was living the life! However, as we inched further into the semester and rehearsals started to amp up for the production of Rent I joined, I quickly found myself lost.

While this is probably common knowledge among actors, I quickly learned that little to no background research prior to auditioning put me at a disadvantage. Early on, if I was auditioning for a show that I didn’t know much about, I would go into it pretty much blind and hope for the best. I did not realize how much this affected me.

I am ready to step away from the strenuous academic and social life on campus. This summer, I have the opportunity to travel and try new things! I am looking forward to what I learn. I'm also excited to jump into planning for a potential play that I am assistant directing when I return to campus!