Photo Courtesy of Daniel Cody

“My whole life has kind of revolved around my passions. I’ve always been very driven by my love of theater, visual art and writing music. The idea of wanting to have a path and wanting to have [a] destination has kept my passions alive. When I was little I was always set on being a painter, which now, as a music and drama major, I look back on and think it’s kind of funny. That artsy part of me kept developing, and I found theater, which was really important to me. Sophomore year in high school I was going through a really hard time. I would play on the piano, messing around doing whatever was cool and then wrote stuff down, and from there I convinced my parents to buy me a keyboard. I realized that this could be something I could develop. It was the first time I had something in mind that I could imagine myself doing instead of just sitting around a studio and painting, which I don’t think I could do now. I always look for something about music that makes me feel something. I would spend hours listening to my favorite artists or my favorite musicals, looking for things that wouldn’t be the first song people would gravitate to. I look for [moments] where the orchestration or the lyrics hits in a certain way, and if I’m able to communicate that for myself or for other people, I think I will feel a little bit more complete. In theater, it felt like an escape, I didn’t do a lot of extracurriculars that felt like they were for my enjoyment, whereas theater made me feel like I belonged. I was never someone who got big parts, especially in middle school or the beginning of high school, and that never bothered me. I made friends who understood me; that is what drew me to theater. Throughout high school, I got better, and I kept working on it, which turned it into a passion for me. It wasn’t until I got to be a lead character [in] my senior year that I got to immerse myself. It was so much fun for me, and it was so important to me at the same time. We [put on] “The Drowsy Chaperone” and I was the Man in Chair, which was super cool. My favorite part about taking in the character is finding the similarities that you have with [them]. Especially in high school shows, there’s an element of being type-casted. Specific people played the same type of roles throughout high school; it can also happen in college and the industry. However, it lets you connect to your character. It’s not always for good reason, but when it is, it can really help. You have to find the piece of the character that’s in you, and when you find that [piece] you live through it more. If you’re not following your passion, what is this life worth?”