HULLO AVID FANS.
I have finally completed my final product in the form of my essay, entitled Acting to Achieve. Please give it a read to get an in-depth look at all my research and hard work. Thank you all for following along.
Finally, my Senior Project story has come to an end.
Hi! Very brief update:
A few weeks ago I mentioned writing an article about the benefits of CMT Camp for India Parent Magazine. I just found the published article! You can read it here.
Ok, bye again.
Well, folks, the curtain has closed.
My internship with CMT ended this past Thursday, and to be honest I was a little emotional. The program was truly special and my advisor was a delight to work with.
I practiced the first draft of my final presentation on Friday, and received some very helpful feedback. Next week I will be editing this and my final product, my essay.
Thank you all so much for following along on this journey. It was truly special. When I’ve finished my essay, I will post it on here.
But until then,
Thank you and goodbye.
Ah! Hello!
The first round of school musical performances has been a stunning success. There’s so much buzz around the show — some teachers enjoyed it so much they’re even bribing their students with extra credit to get them to go watch. Ms. Sweet has had teachers and admin and students alike come into her office to compliment our production, and some non-theatre students have even been persuaded to join drama next year. This is all very exciting, and it’s also very new. I’ve been in my school’s drama program since it began four years ago, and never before have I seen such enthusiasm and support. Things are looking up for the theatre.
That’s all for this week. Pray for our second round of performances. Bye!
Hiiiiiii.
This week at CMT I archived some songs and finally finished my essay. Massive edits will be made, but it’s structurally sound.
The big news of the post is that our school show is finally here! Today, in fact. The cast and crew have been working so hard this week every night from 4pm to 9pm on tech and rehearsals. It’s been a long and exhausting week for everyone. Please wish us luck tonight!
As for a question I received on my post last week: were there any differences in answers among the different age groups I interviewed? The answers I received were all relatively similar in nature, with mentions of self confidence boosting and community building. I also should mention I only interviewed campers ages 14-18, so the age range was quite small.
See you next week!
Happy yet-another-Friday, all.
School was out this week, but the cast continues to work at home in preparation for our performance in exactly one week (dear God).
I continued writing, synthesising the information from the sources I read. The essay isn’t yet completed, but it will be by next week. I should be able to manage three more paragraphs easily.
In other news, at CMT I looked up some more prop crafts in preparation for the summer camps. I also had the chance to speak to a few current CMT Mainstage performers (ages 14-20). They spoke quite fondly of the program they were in, and though their answers were brief and to the point, they were articulate. I noticed that they all mentioned having experienced a boost in confidence as a result of participating in theatre. I also heard the majority of my interviewees mention how CMT gave them a community or an inclusive family of good people. One performer mentioned that something unique about drama was that everyone wins because everyone is working together to achieve one solid common goal, which is just to give the best performance they can. After speaking with the students, I professed to one of the volunteer parents how impressed I was with the level of self-assurance these kids possessed, and she simply said, “Oh, it’s this place.” She told me that though some of the beginners start out shy and timid, they become someone entirely different on stage. It was quite inspiring to hear how impactful drama has been in these people’s lives.
Next week, the schedule returns to normal with the added monster that is tech rehearsals for our school production. Check back in to see if I survive that and our first show.
Hai.
This week at school we’ve been focusing on perfecting the first act of the musical. We are singing louder, smoothing out transitions, and finally delivering lines off book.
At home I’ve continued writing. As of right now, I’ve gotten down all my observations and some synthesis with my research. By the end of next week, I would like to put into writing all my notes on all the scholarly texts I read on psychology and drama.
My CMT advisor gave me a new project: interviews. I came up with a series of questions for CMT staff, teachers, and students. Some of my inquiries include:
What has been your experience with theatre? How did you come to participate in drama? How has drama influenced you? Have you found anything in the theatre that you might have not found or learned elsewhere?
On Thursday I interviewed four staff members who had begun acting at a very young age (3-10 years old). According to them, drama programs gave them safe spaces as children, secure environments in which they could express themselves and also learn how to be team players as they shouldered the responsibility of working towards a goal that was bigger than their individual selves. They also mentioned that through acting, they were able to become more open to other people’s opinions, more adaptive to social situations, more comfortable with public speaking, and more focused in their work ethic. Essentially, their testimony was very supportive of the theory that drama can influence kids in such a way that they may improve their self confidence, empathy skills, and academic standing.
I’m going to continue interviews next week, when I will be speaking to some of the CMT campers and parents. Check in next Friday to see what they say!
