Theatre is a form of art that, from many perspectives, is a collaborative effort. However, the collaboration that they see is only of the actors performing on stage. But what are the intricate details that make up this collaborative experience that we don’t see?  Collaboration, to me, is the knowledge and ideas that each artist provides when working on a theatrical show. These ideas are what make the performance that we see more than just people moving on a stage. When I am working on a show, I first begin by reading the text and visualizing the script by using my imagination. My counterparts, whether they’re an actor, light technician, sound technician, etc., also take part in this process of envisioning the script. As an actress, I am tasked with breaking down the script. I analyze the character I’m portraying, my relationship to the characters in the script, and the story that is being told. In some cases, I become stuck, so I conduct research outside of my ideas. For example, in a case where I don’t know much about a period in time, I look to the set designers, because their research encapsulates more of the setting in a script. Their ideas allow me some insight into how people of a certain period would act compared to us in modern society. This form of collaboration is key to understanding what a collaborative effort is. It’s helping one another when I or my counterparts lack knowledge in a certain area of production. One collaborative experience I took part in was the Spring semester of my freshman year of college. I was tasked with developing a set design for the play Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson. With my lack of experience in designing a set, I leaned on my fellow designers to aid in what I would sketch for the set. As we began working, so many ideas sprang into action. One of them is that in the play, themes of religion, specifically Christianity, were represented throughout. Symbols of light, life, death, and purity were presented as well. So, I took these ideas, conducted research on the period, and included images of crucifixes, Jesus Christ, and white lace. Since light was also a factor of importance, I decided not to include much artificial light, but rather the use of big windows and candlelight. Through learning and gaining knowledge from my peers, I was able to design a set that I was content with and that aided in the telling of the story. My collaborative experience was successful because I had not only my ideas but the ideas of people who had either already worked on designing a play, or had a bit more experience with set design. It was inspirational because now I know how to collaborate well with others and I dream of creating more designs in the future.

“Neither from itself nor from another, Nor from both, Nor without a cause, Does anything whatever, anywhere arise. There are four conditions: efficient condition; Percept-object condition; immediate condition; Dominant condition, just so. There is no fifth condition. The essence of entities Is not present in the conditions, etc. If there is no essence, There can be no otherness-essence. Power to act does not have conditions. There is no power to act without conditions. There are no conditions without power to act. Nor do any have the power to act. These give rise to those, So these are called conditions As long as those do not come from these, Why are these not non-conditions?”- Nagarjuna, The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Chapter 1 In the book, "On the Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way," written by Nagarjuna. He first explains four ways something can exist by stating four reasons or as he says “conditions.” The first is existence from itself alone, existence from something else alone, existence from both it and something else, and existence without a cause. These forms of coming into existence correlate to his notion that everything comes from emptiness. Nagarjuna also furthers this notion of emptiness by examining the starting point of natural existent things. To examine the first way something can exist, we must find something in this world that only exists by itself but still has a scientific explanation for its existence. By Nagarjuna saying something that exists by itself he means that it did not rely on another source to come to fruition. An example of this is an electron. Electrons are one of the subatomic particles of an atom and they exist in nature with no known reason. Scientists haven’t yet found a reason for electrons' existence, except that they are a form of energy in an atomic particle. Electrons exist only by themselves and act as a negative energy charge for the atom. Nagarjuna states that something can exist from something else alone. By this statement, we can assume that he means something that exists only by being created from another source. Many things exist in nature like this; however, a common idea is that offspring are born from animals alone. Babies, ducklings, fawns, cubs, etc. can only exist from a mother animal source, they can’t come from being artificially made or any other species in our environment. The third reason for existence is from being both. This means that something can exist from another source, but it doesn’t just rely on another source and can exist solely on itself. An example of this is bacteria. Bacteria can grow and exist on their own and reproduce identical cells, and these new identical bacteria cells can evolve and exist on their own. Another example is animal and plant cells, they can exist independently as well as divide to create new identical cells. Nagarjuna then says that something can exist without cause. Something that exists without cause is something that exists without scientific reasoning. Nagarjuna says that the power to act exists without a condition, it isn’t created from anything, nor does it make itself. He says that it has no reason for the way that it is. We can assume that it has no reason based on the fact that we know humans have instincts. Another thing that exists without a cause is the idea of nothingness which is his notion of emptiness. The idea of nothing can’t scientifically be proven and has no reasoning it is simply an explanation created by humans for the lack of something. Furthermore, these four conditions support his notion of emptiness, because they are just ideas and have no potential to make something exist, we can only give examples. His view of emptiness stems from the fact that as said before the idea of nothing has no condition or “reason” for the way it is, because if something is nothing how could you give a reason for it? Even with things that are already existent, he presents the question of why we would need to explain its existence. Nagarjuna also says that things just are, because there is no independent thing that naturally exists for any existent thing which is also a notion of emptiness. So, because there is no independent thing that naturally exists as a starting point to its arising there can be no other natural thing that gives reason to things that exist.

My name is Madison Holloway, and I am an upcoming undergraduate freshman at the University of Montevallo. I enjoy theater, painting, drawing, reading, and music. I am a very outgoing, humorous, creative, and optimistic person. In the future, I plan on becoming an actress and a director and opening up a workshop for students like me who want to pursue their performing arts passion. This scholarship will lead me toward my goals by helping me pay for my college education and allowing me to graduate from the University of Montevallo with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting. With this degree, I can grow and gain experience in my career field. I will then use this experience and support from others to start up my workshop. A goal I also have for my educational career is directing a movie or short film. With this scholarship, I can pursue that goal and allow actors to experience or gain experience in on-screen acting. This production will include a true story from a person's life. I chose this because I want to relate to my audience through more than just fiction. The theme of this production will be a lesson of overcoming trials in the face of adversity. With this scholarship, I plan to build myself to help others grow themselves. In the past, I have done lots of volunteer work from being a JROTC cadet, and I plan on continuing this into the future. Helping others is another passion of mine that I want to spread all around the world. I want to help students and people discover their true selves and show them better opportunities in their passions. I also want to give people a safe space to explore their creative minds. I live by the belief of putting others before myself, and with the help of this scholarship, I can practice that belief with what I love.

Currently, in my life, helping and supporting others is an important part of my day to day. It has always been something that I am passionate about, and I plan to continue as long as I live. I help others not for my benefit or self-recognition but for those in my life who deserve care and acknowledgment of their struggles. I help people by catering to their mental health even though I am not licensed; my peers, friends, and family recognize me as a great advice-giver and a good listener. During my life, I have struggled with poor mental health, and now my goal is to support and guide those because I know how it feels to believe no one is with you. I enjoy helping in my community as well. During my high school career, I volunteered for the NAACP and the Birmingham Squadron to present the colors in my JROTC color guard. I also acted as security to protect the children at the Pelham in the Park recreation event. I have participated in local events such as my town's parade and church food drives. Giving back to my community helps me to connect with others and hands-on experience with helping. I plan to further my journey of helping and caring for others by using my love for acting and theater to build a workshop for students like me who want to pursue their dreams in the performing arts world. With my workshop for performing arts, I can help the creative minds of students blossom into more outside of their daily studies. I want to teach others how to use their passion to discover their true selves and meaning in life. My commitment to my goals and love for my career choice is how I will continue to effectively be there for others when they have no one else to lean on.

During my childhood, I was a child of intricate imagination and ideas. Because I had these characteristics, people would refer to me as a character. I never knew what this truly meant until I reached my teenage years and that same intricate mind helped me overcome failure. Comedy and humor have always been a big part of my life; it is who I am. Not only is it what makes up my true character, but it is also my favorite genre to perform on stage. I have performed many comedic roles in my high school career such as Donkey from Shrek and Marcy from the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, but I will carry one performance with me forever. When I was a freshman in high school, there was a theater competition held for students all around Alabama. Being freshly new to high school and passionate about theater I joined this competition. However, during the first round of auditions, I failed to deliver the monologue I had chosen so I was sent home. The monologue I had chosen was entirely out of character range; it was for the genre of something I was not yet comfortable with. This event devastated me and caused me to doubt myself and my dream of becoming an actress. With this experience, I knew I needed to put more work and practice into my performance if I would ever try again. So, during my junior year, I joined the competition again, prepared to deliver my comedic monologue to the best of my abilities. Me and my teacher worked together to find a piece that would reflect who I am as a person and comedy is that. During the competition, I was filled with anxiety about the final results and began to think back to my first performance. However, with my dedication, I made it to the state competition, where I would win second place in my comedic monologue. My failure and ability to grow and learn while also building a character that related to me allowed me my self-discovery. Being able to perform a comedic monologue showed me how comedy is how I can make people feel emotions of that same joy and imagination that I felt as a kid when I was being myself. In the future, I plan to use my talents with my bachelor's degree to open up a workshop for students like myself so they can grow their skills in theater. I want to create a space where students can fail and then take the right paths to success using their creativity and passion. I will also further my career with onstage and on-screen acting and some directing. I know I can continue to share my story with others to teach and help them grow into their true selves and become their character.

My name is Madison Holloway but I am more than just my name. I am an actress and a writer. During my life, my creativity in performance and creating stories has always shown through me in the greatest of ways. As a little girl, I created stories of kings and queens and acted these stories out with my toys and dolls. My motivation for acting doesn’t only come from the results of a production it stems from my love of being on stage, learning blocking, and embodying my given character. I am a writer because I want to share my stories and the stories of others in ways that they can’t. I act and write to showcase my perspectives on love, grief, anger, and every emotion I experience. I always live by the idea that I can become everything through my stories, that’s what I plan to do. With society as it is, the true meaning of creating and performing stories has become a facade from plagiarism to writers and performers not giving their all to their craft. I want to change this because I know how my failure in these specific art I was able to overcome an obstacle and strive towards my goals. During my junior year in high school, there was a state competition being held for theater students. I joined this competition once again after my teacher worked with and motivated me to attend. The first time I attended I failed to make it past the first round and was sent home. I let this failure tear me down; I even began to doubt myself. However, I knew it would build me up if I continued practicing and put my all into my performance. So, on my second try, I made it to the second round and placed 2nd in the state of Alabama with my performance of a comedic monologue. This trial and error allowed me to understand my true self and motivated me to continue my passion in college. When I performed this monologue I was able to authentically tell a story that I related to and also have fun with building my performance with this character. Seeing how my creative choices and drive allowed me not only to win but also my self-discovery prompted me to continue writing stories. One story I wrote for my theater class has themes of horror and romance that will soon be turned into a short film production. Seeing my story made into another form of art drives me to continue in my craft of storytelling and writing. In the future, I plan to continue doing my work and inspire and teach others by opening up my workshop and allowing others to experience their love for the arts freely and openly. Acting and storytelling are more than just saying a monologue or writing words on paper; it is how people find who they are and motivate themselves to a bright future. I want to allow a place for failure to take place and for it to push students to something greater.