BWW Blog: 3 Ways I've Grown as a Student in a Pandemic

No one needs to hear that this year has been hard. We all know! Especially us artists. Our bubble of beauty has been more or less popped. I never expected this to happen, to have my junior year as a Musical Theatre student at Coastal Carolina University streamed from my cluttered bedroom, while my cat begs for his litter to be cleaned. But it did. And I have learned a lot. I'm not the same performer I was when I first heard the word "coronavirus," and I'm not the same person either. Here's why:

1. Reflection. There's a special gift in stillness. It gives us the opportunity to look back on our lives and realize what went wrong and what went right. You can grow as a person alone in your bedroom just as much as you can on a trip to Europe. As crazy as it sounds, it's true. We are actors and artists; it is our job to master the understanding of our experiences so we can bring them into a new character one day. What have you leaned on in these past few months, and what have you strayed away from? Who has burned you, and how has it changed you? There is a little golden nugget in everything that happens to you.

2. Trying new things. I've been very blessed with the opportunities that came to me, even in a period in which I never thought they would. I adopted my very own pet, wrote my first novel, signed to an agency, modeled for a clothing company, and starred in a short film. I even took an incredible philosophy class that challenged my mind like never before. Granted, I also cried a bucket of tears, quit a terrible job after just one week, fought with my landlord, and had about three horrible dye-jobs on my hair. There have been the most ridiculous amount of ups and downs. I've put myself out there even when I didn't really feel like getting up from bed. That is what we all must do, no matter what!

3. Learning outside of the classroom. If I tried to count, I've probably watched about a hundred different things on Netflix. I'd say about one tv show and movie a day. The Queen's Gambit.. life changing. I've discovered many new actors and actresses that I adore. I've read about a million different monologues (in bed, at 3pm), and my Spotify playlists are getting out of hand. I've read some incredible books about what it is like to be an actor in film, in theatre, and how to survive in cities like LA and New York. And most of all, I've meditated and meditated on the fact that everything will be okay.