THE AUDIENCE WILL BE HAVING FUN

with [Big Fish] and the people involved with it,” Jury said. I just felt like I bonded with everyone in the cast like I had never connected with any other cast before. I was able to really open up and be true about how I feel and I’m really glad I was able to have been able to do that with [that] group of people.”

ART BY ROSANGEL FLORES-RUBIO

“There were just so many touching moments and I have such a personal connection

Jury feels that the performing arts have changed their life.

“I think being in theater, I don’t think I would [be] as in tune with myself [and] my identity,” Jury said. “Most of the time with theater it’s a really welcoming community, and I feel like I never got that kind of a community when I did sports. Even if it was cooperative, sometimes it never felt like we were really with one another and I always felt like with performing in theater, it had more of a tight knit feeling. I just felt a lot closer with the individual people and got to have that time to talk and understand them more.”

Jury also feels that performing has helped his mental health.

“A lot of things [have] happened in the theater and learning how to work through that has helped me a lot with just working through everyday things,” Jury said. “Dealing with how to be on stage has helped me with social anxiety; and strategies cannot only help you on the stage, but also just in daily life.”

Jury is going to take a gap year after this year and has plans to continue performing. They will carry a memory from Matilda the Musical with them past their high school years.

“During the senior speeches [for Matilda], Rachel Meehan (‘21) went up. She said something that really stuck with me [and]

I’ve kept [it] as a personal mantra,” Jury said. “She said ‘life is too short not to say “I love you.”’ And I just really resonated with that and I started connecting with people and talking to people more often. It was a jumping [off] point for me to just be more confident.”

While Meehan’s advice has had a large impact on Jury, his advice for other performers is personal as well.

“Don’t ever apologize for doing the best you can do because the best you can do is the best anyone’s going to get,” Jury said. “Don’t be afraid to be you, and don’t be sorry for being you,”