Letter From a Senior: I never knew my favorite college experiences would be rooted in performance By Lauren Knight
As someone who joined
the Department of Drama during their third year at UCI, my biggest fear was feeling like an outsider amongst a tight-knit group of drama majors who all knew and bonded with each other prior to my arrival. I spent my entire first year of college in Mesa Court’s performing arts dorm, staring at the arts campus just outside my window and debating whether or not I had any business in a college-level theater class. I thought my inclination to pursue entertainment news writing instead of an acting career would make me a strange fit for this program, and I didn’t know if I would even like being in the classes I was required to take if I joined. The one thing I knew is that I wanted to steer clear of anything that would prevent me from feeling like a mere observer. My perception of where I fit — or didn’t — in this program was immediately shattered in the very first drama class I took. During my first week of finals as a drama student, I sat in my apartment at 1 a.m. covered in Scotch tape and cheap acrylic paint, attempting to crank out a full set of 15 costumes in one night with a freshman named Rachel. Our final for Drama 10 was a group project that amounted to a 10-minute performance at the end of the quarter, and — thinking we were clever — Rachel and I opted to have our contribution to the group be costume design and production. With my insane junior year course load and Rachel’s overpacked schedule, we
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