essays

what have i learned? in academia, in life, my own identity....i need something great to prove that i'm more than just a piece of paper. i have a personality and its real.

I spent all of my advanced acting class trying to find me. The entire concept of it seems cliche; why should people who present other characters find their personalities? The actor must be honest. For the entire semester I tried to lose my "acting charade" and be real. In a strange way, my acting class mirrored my personal battles that semester.

I had spent 19 years carving out my personality and how I presented it to the world. Everytime I stepped out of the bubble of my small hometown, I would find refuge in the girl seeing the world from her aloof viewpoint. I learned to listen rather than talk. For someone surrounded by people with a more worldly opinions, it seemed the safe thing to do.

I returned to find myself equally removed from my comfortable environment. I formed my identity as the artistic girl. My interests were theatre, art, music, and trying to make myself appear unique in a school full of generic blonde clones. I succeeded.

In college, I found myself returning to the same aloof security. This time I was in the theatre department. I could no longer find my uniqueness in being "the girl that's into theatre". Instead, I let them do the talking. I listened to their outrageous stories and their gossip. I listened to them backstab their friends and bitch about cast lists.