Student Blog: Writing What I Know

Hello all! My name’s Makena and I’m a current freshman in the BFA Acting for Stage & Screen program with an emphasis in Musical Theatre at Azusa Pacific University. I’m also an Honors Humanities major. This school year has introduced me to an entirely new side of the theatre world, and allowed me to experience performance opportunities in live theatre, improv, and film. These experiences have opened my eyes to the versatility of the acting world, as well as challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone. It’s been such an honor to be immersed in a multi-faceted acting program that challenges me to invest more deeply in my acting and become more intentional about my performance choices. 

While I love acting in all forms, I’m a musical theatre girlie at heart, and will take any opportunity to sing. In tandem with the performance opportunities I mentioned earlier, I have also had the opportunity to take voice lessons for the first time. I am benefitting from learning about theatrical and classical technique, and already feel more confident in my vocal technique and health. 

In addition to the academic benefits of being part of a BFA program, I have experienced so much personal growth during my time at APU. Being able to live and work with peers who value the performing arts as much as I do has been such an enjoyable experience and I truly feel as though I’ve found my people. I have the privilege of being part of an extremely talented cohort that continuously inspires me to be better through the vigor with which they approach their acting work. It has also been so awesome to be able to make a theatre reference and have a group of people immediately understand me. Being part of a group that spends so much time together has helped me feel more connected to my theatre community, as well as ease the transition into a new school and stage of my life. 

Over the next few months I’m looking forward to tackling audition season and getting up on my feet in APU’s studio production of The Fantasticks. We also just wrapped auditions for our 2025-2026 season, so I can’t wait to see what happens in terms of future productions. One of my personal goals in pursuing acting in college was to audition for more external productions, particularly for summer stock, so I’m currently learning to navigate “real world” auditions, improve my book, and get more comfortable advocating for myself. 

In addition to my performance work, I’m interested in the technical side of theatre, and particularly love working on carpentry. My school just wrapped a production of Pride and Prejudice during which I had the opportunity to contribute to the set build, as well as operate the soundboard for the run of the show. Overall, the next few months entail wrapping up an incredibly successful Freshman year and looking forward to continuing my growth and investment in the performing arts industry.