The stage, the court, the park, the school, the family home. Places are all around us, each one shaping us a bit as a person as we go through them. It isn’t uncommon for people to have a place they think back fondly on, someplace that determined who they were. Places that shaped them in small ways, like a light smoothing, or perhaps shaped them greatly, as if it structured them fundamentally.
“I would say the stage, as cliché as it is, [for a] theater kid,” senior Morgan Glenn said. “[It] helped me find my identity. [For] a long time, I felt like I was going through the motions, and not getting to be myself.”
Glenn goes deeper into how the stage has shaped her, specifically what it became synonymous with in her mind. “When I walk into the auditorium, [I] know that I’m about to make my family proud, make the people who come and see me proud, and hopefully bring joy to people [who watch the play],” Glenn said. “Performing is like home for me.”
Senior Nora Howard, another performing arts student, shares the same space that Glenn said shaped her.
“[A place that shaped me would be] all of the different stages that I’ve been on,” Howard said. “I feel very comfortable being on a stage [as opposed to presenting] in front of a class full of my peers. [But] being on a stage is just a very different feeling.” Howard said.
“It’s one of the few places where I feel genuinely comfortable and confident in what I’m doing,” Howard said when asked about why the stage has impacted her, “I feel secure [there] in a way [that] I don’t [in] a lot of other places.”
“[A basketball court is] where I feel like I fit in, and it’s something that I’ve put a lot of my focus on and a lot of my time into. Whenever I’m upset, I go, and I shoot [hoops]. Whenever I’m happy, I go, and I shoot [hoops],” Freshman Faith Dineen said. “It shaped me into who I am today, because I’ve had that outlet and the opportunity to play the sport that I love.”
“It’s been consistent in my life. [Unlike] a lot of [other] things [that] just aren’t consistent. Everything’s constantly changing, but the one thing that I’ve always had is basketball. And no matter what, I know I’m always gonna have that outlet,” Dineen said.
Whether it be the stage, the field, the court, or just one’s family home. It’s important to recognise and share the places that shaped us in hopes that someone else might just need that sort of construction themselves.
