When I was five years old, I got an advertisement in the mail from a local college theater company. They were promoting their children’s performing arts program and were trying to recruit new actors. My mom knew this would be a good fit since, well, I’d pretty much been a performer since birth. There’s a plethora of home videos showcasing me singing around the house, or creating dance routines and making my younger brother participate in them. Performing is something that I’ve always loved, so I took the chance and applied for the program.
I quickly fell in love with the art of performing in front of an audience. I’ve always felt that, as a performer, I had the unique ability to stand in front of a crowd and tell them a story. I could make a difference; I could change the way the audience viewed the world. My performance could make them laugh or cry or feel the one thing that they needed to feel the most in that moment. I always thought this aspect of performing was incredibly powerful, and it made me never want to stop.
Unfortunately, life doesn’t always pan out the way that we expect it to. Just as the leaves change color during the fall, so may the pathway of our lives. Our interests may vary with age, and with that, so may our hopes for the future.
Largely, I think that this is what college is all about—figuring out what makes you happy and following new directions. As a sophomore, I find that life isn’t going quite how I expected it to. This year marks the first year that I won’t be in a performance since I was five years old. Between schoolwork and other various commitments, I don’t have the time to lend toward being in a production. Of course, this is not ideal, and I wish that I could once again be a part of the craft that I will always view as my first passion. However, I do believe that the future is a mystery, and there might be new, surprising opportunities just around the corner.
Though life is constantly changing, and I am currently on a break from performing, new passions have been on the rise. Being a part of The Stute has been such a rewarding experience for me—I find that writing for this opinion column has provided me with a similar creative outlet that performing once did, and I am fascinated by the satisfaction that it gives me. When I write, I have the ability to influence someone’s mindset for the better, even if it’s for just a second. I can reflect on some of my feelings, and tell some of my stories, in hopes that it will inspire others to take a deep breath and let life run its course.
When life goes in any direction other than the one that you might expect, roll with it. Be willing to learn about the world, and about yourself as well! When one door closes, another one opens, so long as your eyes are open wide enough to see it.
Second-Year Freshman is an Opinion column used to explore the unique experiences of Sophomore students who studied remotely their freshman year during the coronavirus pandemic, and are now experiencing campus life for the first time during the 2021-2022 academic year.
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