Thank you, Theatre! by Rebecca

Thank you, Theatre! by Rebecca - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

As a practicing actor of seven years, I have always been surrounded by ensemble and community: it’s what fuels my ambition to succeed. A successful production always needs a community built to support it, filled with driven and committed individuals. When you surround yourself with the best people, you achieve the best results. And so I find my dramatic education is in constant use in the real world, particularly when meeting these types of people. This is because my acting abilities also developed my public-speaking skills. In the theater, I have been able to direct many scenes and participate in large group musical productions, and I find this ability to get along and work with others has translated to my business and philanthropic interests, allowing me to have successful productions off the stage.
Case in point, in my Junior year of highschool I announced that my bakery, Becca’s Bakeshop was going to be selling sweets in support of a nonprofit venture I began, Becca’s Backpack Drive. I was also raising money through a GoFundMe Fundraiser and used social media to connect with an extensive audience. It was an incredibly successful campaign thanks to the peers in my theatre community that supported me. They enabled me to collect over 75 backpacks filled to the brim with school supplies and deliver them to a school with predominantly low-income families. Now, I imagine how much more impact could be achieved with the help of all the folks I become friends with and lead in college!
Theatre has allowed me to maximize my academic achievements, communal impact, and social network. These three pillars make up a successful experience and I am motivated to fulfill each one of them as I leave for college. This is because the ensemble and community are second to none and my theatrical ensembles have taught me to work together to put on a great show!
All in all, I believe that through my theatre career I have been able to leverage my entrepreneurial skills and determination, as well as my communicative abilities to found non-profit organizations and new clubs. I have been able to focus my impact on helping others that are less fortunate through the skills I have learned in theatre and because of the networking skills I have achieved.The parallels between my work with Becca’s Backpack Drive to that on the stage are numerous, and so my years training as an actor and leading as a director will serve me well at any college I attend. The opportunities for artistic and professional development that I have been given are second to none and I am excited to work with any new peers as I did with my theatrical ensembles.