If you had asked me where I would be five years from now, five years ago, I would have said premiering on Broadway or having a production of a play somewhere in New York. When the pandemic hit, the performing arts came to a pause. Completing my bachelor’s degree became more challenging when the theater could no longer be live and in person. While others felt their creativity and passion halt, I reacted more productively than in years. I lived in New York City without financial support, causing me to work full time and often cap the time I could spend writing. The unexpected standstill in the world granted me a golden opportunity. 

I completed a full-length play during my final semester and worked with a team over Zoom to refine it. Collaborating in a pressure-free environment allowed my play to evolve and adapt. This experience changed my perspective on where I want to be in five years—being in the room where it happens. Whether in the classroom, writing room, or theater, I plan to collaborate, explore complexities, and develop my craft in teaching or writing. 

Passion has always been the motivation for everything I do. Having grown up with a mother as a devoted educator, I made it my goal to always teach with integrity and devotion. “School isn’t for everyone” only applies when the connection is unmet. As you know, we have a responsibility not only to our students but to ourselves to make a difference and meet each kid where they need it. There is a difference between teaching and fostering a student’s mind; one leads to successful, confident individuals, the other simply a student who gets good grades. Students who feel free to explore their imaginations within the arts, question, and develop the skills to analyze and solve problems effectively. 

I joined Off-Broadway Children’s Theater at nine years old under the artistic direction of Amanda Kalhkais. Growing up in a theater environment nourished me creatively and socially. As a theater teacher, I can explore children’s curious and vibrant personalities with them. It is truly inspiring to witness the growth and development of our children through the power of play. 

You see, something you won’t find on my transcripts is a class I took my junior year of high school called MOTAM, short for “Making of the American Mind.” Instead of enrolling in traditional literature and history classes, they combined the two and developed a place for students to engage and create performances with American History and Literature. 

It was during this program I discovered a burning desire for playwriting. Our teachers split each period into different parts of the year. We studied historical periods for the first two weeks, worked collaboratively in groups, and conceived our ideas. Every day we came together in the room where it happens. We spent the next few weeks in that room writing scripts, sharing opinions, selecting actors, and designing storylines to portray historical events. We invited friends, family, and peers to watch our performances, where we brought the past to life instead of simply reading about it in books. And the best part? We did it all over again three more times. I partook in the creative process from start to finish for the first time and fell in love. I have come to realize, this is the very foundation of teaching. 

Truthfully, I faced several issues when I first started teaching theater classes in low-income schools with Transforming Arts and Minds Non-Profit. As a teacher, I felt under-qualified to teach students who had never taken an art class. Imposter syndrome took over me, and I felt like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. But suddenly it hit me–I was in the room where it happens. We developed characters, and learned dances, performed, and cried through fears—together. Students pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and supported each other through learning. 

I’ll never forget the sparkle in Sofia’s eyes when she got the dance right for the first time, her voice exclaiming, “I did it!” I can still hear the classes roaring laughs from Maddox’s first time  performing improv after being scared to volunteer for many games. Each light bulb moment from weeks of dedicating themselves to something they create, they plan, they discover. Being in the room where it happens means being there from the very beginning to the very end. These students were not thrust onto the stage and asked to perform. I gave them a space and asked them to be curious about who they are and what they can do. 

My teaching philosophy grounds itself on fostering a collaborative and inclusive learning environment that encourages students to take creative risks and explore new perspectives. Although I know I’m not a perfect theater teacher, or best-selling playwright, I know one thing for certain. In another five years, I hope to be creating as many rooms as I can where students can play, evolve, and mature into fully realized theater artists.