Jeff Stanley Memorial Scholarship

My passion for the arts was ignited in the second grade with an end of school surprise to see the Lion King. I quietly sat on my knees in my second row seat completely mesmerized by the costumes, character & audience interaction and music that pulsed through my body and made me feel alive! In the fourth grade I finally had an opportunity to audition for a play and to my surprise I was casted as Jafar in Aladdin. The connection and strong bonds I was able to make with other students just like me and the teachers that directed the shows, which still exist till this very day, created a sense of community that I never knew I needed. In middle school, my community grew while performing in Once On This Island and Fiddler On The Roof. I became utterly infatuated with the idea of being able to channel all of my emotions and experiences into relatable performances! While fully immersed in the magic of the stage, Covid hits. Snuffing out the ignited flames, momentum halted where there had been so much life! The world came to a standstill and my fuel was replaced with uncertainty and skepticism. It felt like the very thing that gave me breath, that kept my spirits up, was taken away in a heartbeat. The world became a virtual oyster. It felt like I was losing myself, my spark. A piece of my soul was now missing. The absence left me with a constant longing to return to the place where I felt most at home, I desperately needed to feel whole again. I applied(virtually) to every performing arts high school I knew of….. being accepted to LaGuardia, my re-ignited fire became an unstoppable inferno! In high school i’ve begun to learn the true art of storytelling and how to bring those stories to life by playing such diverse roles such as Uncle Fester to The Wiz and Cinderella’s Prince. Every rehearsal, every performance provides me with an indescribable rush. Allowing people to see the world through a new lens, provoking thought and touching the heart of those who have watched me perform has my fire burning hotter than it ever has before. Theater has challenged me to step out of my comfort zone, take risks and place myself in someone else’s shoes. The moment I step onto a stage, everything else fades away. A high I just cant seem to get enough of! I cannot visualize myself anywhere else except on a stage performing!

You take those first steps onto a stage, feel the heat from the lights on your skin, and find yourself dropped into a scene about unfolding relationships. Are the characters on stage friends? Family? Adversaries? How do these characters go on a journey together? I experienced it this summer in a performance of All Shook Up The Musical. I experienced it in school productions. It is always a bit different, but it is exciting and thrilling every time. I enjoy learning about how I react to these feelings and what it brings to my performance on that day. For this reason, I have chosen to pursue a career in the theatre. The stories being told on a stage can affect an audience in more ways than one, through a humorous comedy or moving them to tears. Having opportunities to perform means that, as the ones telling the stories, we get to come together as a community to tell those amazing stories through art. I love having a variety of opportunities to perform because it provides a way for me to express myself and connect with cohorts of similar interests. The aspect of community in theatre is an organic experience where it brings the audience from all walks of life together as they are told a story through acting, singing, and dancing. Plus, the community built within a cast leads to lifelong friendships. Through the formation of camaraderie amongst a cast, performers are allowed to become vulnerable around one another, leading to more sincere and real performances by those actors. Having connections with your castmates can lead to a “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” situation, where you discover that a new fellow castmate has performed with a different former castmate, thus expanding my universe. These connections could go all the way up to the Broadway level, and forming connections not only with castmates but directors and artistic staff could reap major rewards in your future. Another benefit of performing as characters means you can drop yourself into a new person for the time being, forget about the stress of the real world, and just have fun. Unless, of course, the character and show you are in necessitates leveraging those stresses. The stage is an actors playground, and having opportunities to dive into a new world provides a revised outlook on the real world. I am excited to explore the craft of performance to continue to learn more about myself as a part of the theatre and the world around us.