Though I am grateful for my midwestern upbringing, I cannot deny the pushes and pulls of the heritage that propels me to look beyond Milwaukee.
Every year my family has two Thanksgivings. We have, what you could call, the “traditional” American Thanksgiving then we do it all again the “Dominican way”. This tradition is something that represents both parts of my ethnicity really well. My mother is from the west coast and was brought up in a very traditional European manner. My father, on the other hand, was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and was raised in the campo. In the few trips I have taken to the DR, I had realized how different the way of living is compared to what is seen as normal here. The freeness of the culture is …show more content…
My hope is that I am able to continue dancing and acting for the rest of my life and because of this I am eager to take in as much as I can. Because of these particular goals I have set out to spend as much time as possible in rehearsal halls and dance studios. This year especially has been me balancing dance classes every night, performing in The WIZ at First Stage children’s theater, and take acting classes every weekend at First Stage all while keeping just over a 4.0 GPA. Summers are not typically a break for me either. If I’m not taking a company acting class you can probably find me interning at First stage trying to earn credits for future classes. Personally, I think my constant strive to be better at what I love to do says a lot about me and shows my determination. My parents have always said the talent will only get you so far and that hard work and dedication is what will get you all the way. Being a part of theater for about 5 years now has also taught me a lot about empathy and working as a team. Learning how to embody and live as someone else for just a little while has made me a more empathetic person outside of the theater and made me more understanding to those who live differently than I do or have different beliefs and values. Rehearsing and performing with the same group of people for 4 weeks to even a few months can bring people quite close. A big thing that I have learned from being so close to people is that the bond you build with those who are working around you is insanely important. When you are putting on a performance, no matter if you are a lead or apart of the ensemble, no one is more important than anyone else in that show. The person in the back row of the formation is just as important as the one with the spotlight on them and the same can be said about what I have learned in my dance
Every year my family has two Thanksgivings. We have, what you could call, the “traditional” American Thanksgiving then we do it all again the “Dominican way”. This tradition is something that represents both parts of my ethnicity really well. My mother is from the west coast and was brought up in a very traditional European manner. My father, on the other hand, was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and was raised in the campo. In the few trips I have taken to the DR, I had realized how different the way of living is compared to what is seen as normal here. The freeness of the culture is …show more content…
My hope is that I am able to continue dancing and acting for the rest of my life and because of this I am eager to take in as much as I can. Because of these particular goals I have set out to spend as much time as possible in rehearsal halls and dance studios. This year especially has been me balancing dance classes every night, performing in The WIZ at First Stage children’s theater, and take acting classes every weekend at First Stage all while keeping just over a 4.0 GPA. Summers are not typically a break for me either. If I’m not taking a company acting class you can probably find me interning at First stage trying to earn credits for future classes. Personally, I think my constant strive to be better at what I love to do says a lot about me and shows my determination. My parents have always said the talent will only get you so far and that hard work and dedication is what will get you all the way. Being a part of theater for about 5 years now has also taught me a lot about empathy and working as a team. Learning how to embody and live as someone else for just a little while has made me a more empathetic person outside of the theater and made me more understanding to those who live differently than I do or have different beliefs and values. Rehearsing and performing with the same group of people for 4 weeks to even a few months can bring people quite close. A big thing that I have learned from being so close to people is that the bond you build with those who are working around you is insanely important. When you are putting on a performance, no matter if you are a lead or apart of the ensemble, no one is more important than anyone else in that show. The person in the back row of the formation is just as important as the one with the spotlight on them and the same can be said about what I have learned in my dance