“Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echad.” My eyes pricked with tears in the packed theater as I watched Parade, a musical retelling of the wrongful imprisonment and lynching of a Jewish man in Atlanta a little over one hundred years ago. Leo Frank’s voice trembled as he sang the bracha in a whisper, standing below a noose that I knew would mark the end of his short and tragic life. As the room held their breath, I sensed a series of feelings around me. Some felt shocked. Others felt uncomfortable. Jewish onlookers like me felt mournful yet grateful for the opportunity to hear that everlasting prayer on stage in front of us. ‘Sh’ma,’ meaning ‘to listen’ is a phrase that encompasses what I intend to do with my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting: listen to other underrepresented narratives and create space for meaningful stories that inspire reflection, collaboration, and education. With the plethora of resources available to me at Western Connecticut State University I will better myself as an artist to share impactful stories both in and out of school. Courses in performance, music, dance, theater technology, and management will ensure that I will be able to collaborate in mainstage productions, student lead projects, and forge connections with like-minded artists for years to come. After graduation, I will work on diverse productions around the country and world at different scales of professionalism, sharing impactful stories with a multitude of different communities. In addition to performing, I aim to be a mentor to others by teaching students in a theater space that values collaboration, advocacy, and growth. My career in the arts will solidify the theater as a place of community, of truly listening to myself and understanding others. I have celebrated meaningful stories in both secular and Jewish spaces throughout my time in theater. Through performing in JCC productions, co-directing, running lights, building sets, and teaching theater electives at the Jewish summer camp I used to attend, and using my senior internship to stage manage a play at the Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy in Stamford this past summer, I have grown the Jewish arts spaces in my own community. In high school, the characters I’ve portrayed have shed light on topics such as childhood neglect, domestic abuse, bullying, gentrification, and more. In addition to performing on stage, I am interested in being involved behind the scenes. I was a sound technician in the budding Unified Theater program at my high school which gave disabled students a chance to take the stage in a showcase entirely student-written, choreographed, directed and produced. These projects embraced the art of listening to new narratives and passing on that understanding to the world. Theater illuminates the successes and strifes of individuals and gives communities the opportunity to face narratives that are foreign to them, creating more understanding in this world. With my education in theater, I will foster a space where people will learn, feel inspired, and ultimately sh’ma.