Student Blog: BACK TO SCHOOL - Missing Summer, Managing Stress at School, Audition Season, and More!

It's that time of year, being back at school for a couple weeks, missing summer… trust me I miss it all too. Summer for us theatre people is still often packed with shows and classes practicing our craft throughout the break. I was lucky enough to work on two shows this summer, Stephan Sondheim's Into the Woods and Stephen King's, Carrie: The Musical. I knew I was going to miss my chill mornings and going to rehearsals in the afternoon but also at the same time I was so ready to get back into a routine. Getting back into a routine for something is sometimes so difficult, especially when it is for school. Studies say that a routine can take anywhere from 18-256 days to make it a habit which I think is why I have been struggling to get up for school in the mornings recently.

The one thing that I was looking forward to was seeing my friends and also meeting all my new teachers. I was really nervous coming into junior year because I had always heard from people that “this is when your life begins” or “that was the hardest year for me”, and other scary words of wisdom like that. So far I am actually really enjoying junior year, my teachers are great and super understanding of my crazy theatre schedule, my workload is manageable with all my AP and IB courses, and I am taking a bunch of classes I have a ton of interest in. I don’t want to jinx it yet because it still is the beginning of the semester but so far I am really enjoying it.

Often as high schoolers, stress and anxiety is a common thing we all face whether that’s from our outside lives, extracurricular activities, challenging ourselves with hard classes in school, you name it. I think that being able to take a step back from things and knowing your limits is really important to maintaining your mental health while being a student. I often feel obligated to say “yes” to any opportunity that comes my way and sometimes when I over-commit myself to something, it gets overwhelming and I get little time for myself. I was given this quote by a parent who knew about these feelings I was experiencing and she told me that “every opportunity doesn't have to be an obligation”. This was something that I needed to hear because often I felt guilty saying “no” to certain opportunities I was receiving, but like I said, you always have to take a step back and put yourself first and know what you want for yourself. I know that this was essential for me to start off my school year right, I had nobody’s expectations confined to me and instead, I personally established goals for myself. 

Going into this school year with my goals I set for myself, I chose classes that I know that would challenge me but also be manageable and fun for me. I am taking a plethora of AP and IB classes along with many arts educational classes implemented in my schedule. I usually take a dance class during the day but this year my school is offering a IB dance class for a zero period in the morning which was a really cool opportunity because you can get the chance to receive college credit for a dance course while also being able to learn and research different genres of dance. Along with this performing arts class, I take a regular dance class during the day along with an IB theatre arts class. As you can tell I am very involved with the theatre, dance, and performing arts departments at my school.

This past month, our school's shows for the fall season were announced which was super exciting for all of us theatre students at my school. They announced for the fall play, Henrick Ibsen’s, An Enemy of the People along with our children's show that we present to local elementary schools, Disney’s Descendants. The auditions for the fall show were right around the corner and I had huge intentions for auditioning for the play because one goal I had established with myself was working on becoming stronger with my acting skills. So I went right ahead and researched a monologue in the realm of realism with Ibsen’s dense writing style and I ended up finding a monologue that resonated with me from The Hairy Ape, by Eugene O'Neill. I felt that the writing style was similar and since our production concept takes place in Flint, Michigan during 1969, I thought O’Neill being an American playwright would be perfect for this audition. 

I went forward with my audition and was so grateful to be cast as Aslaksen, who is the town's chairman of the homeowners council and works to produce the press in the town. We are currently in the thick of rehearsal right now, blocking the show and going deep while analyzing our characters since Ibsen’s writing is so emphasized in the art of his realism. A straight play was something pretty scary to me because I mainly always work on musicals, so diving into the emphasis on acting was a bit nerve-racking for me but was also the main reason I wanted to take part in this. I take this opportunity as a way to learn and grow in this art form and it’s all been under the incredible mentorship of our incredible director, Mackenzie Scott, who takes the time to make sure each of her actors and actresses know what the plan is, always open to questions, and wanting to create and educational experience for performers to find success in the end. If you are interested in seeing the production, it will be open from November 7-9, 13-15, 2024, at 7:30PM in the Mark S. Scott Performing Arts Center! More information at: https://theatreattheranch.weebly.com/

Well, that’s how back to school has been for me, busy but so grateful for what opportunity is to come along this year! I hope that everyone is off to a great start for this school year and just remember like I said earlier, make sure to keep your well-being in mind because this life is for nobody else but for you! Thank you for taking the time to read my first student blog and I cannot wait to share more with all of you regarding theatre, life as a high school student, and so much more!

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