Past & Present: Behind the Scenes ('18)

We continued our alumni series by interviewing this more recent MV grad who is now studying at UCLA to become a play director.

Q: What do you think of your time at MV?

A: There’s definitely parts that I really really enjoy, and there’s definitely parts that I really didn’t enjoy — some of the classes and memories I made with my friends I really enjoyed. These are the things I tend to think about first, but I also do remember the academic stress and everything that went along with going to a school like Monta Vista. It’s like this weird duality of “I’m happy I went there, because if I didn’t, I won’t be the person I am today, but there’s definitely some not-so-happy memories.”

Q: Who were your favorite teachers?

The reason why I’m in the path (as a theater major) was having such a supportive drama department, like Ms. Capule and Mr. Adams, who were the drama teachers when I was there. They were so supportive in any sort of creative endeavors you wanted to do, and they were like, “How can we help? How can we support you?” They helped me realize what the power of theater is, and it was there that I fell in love with theater. [...] Ms. Capule, she takes us every year to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to watch a bunch of shows for a week. That’s one of the first times where I really knew, I really want to do theater.

Q: What did you take away from MV?

A: I think the mentality, where you have to get A’s, where you have to be the best of the best is honestly kind of harmful, in a sense. Because once you go out, especially in college, a lot of my professors in the theater department are like “the only way you’re going to be able to grow is if you fail.” And now I have a fear of failure in my mind because of Monta Vista, so it’s just much harder to just be able to deal with failure, and “okay, we’re growing”, and allowing yourself to fail and grow and become a better person [...] I think failure is necessary to grow as a human being, and the fact that Monta Vista set that mentality — so I think in terms of that way, the competitiveness, I could see how it helped me get into college a little bit, but I also think that in the end, potentially, the lifelong implications of that are harmful.

Q: What are you up to now?

A: I’m studying theater at UCLA [...] LA as a whole is very interesting and unique city - there’s no other city like it, there’s a lot to go and explore off campus [...] Studying theater is really interesting because it’s very different than a lot of the normal classes you take freshman year and sophomore year - your first year of college, your first quarter, you take theater classes only, and you’re taking classes with only 80 kids. [...] I’m taking directing classes, I’m actually taking one right now online, it’s going very interesting - I get to just go in, and basically do something I really enjoy doing, which is directing scenes and getting feedback from my peers. You can only learn directing by directing, and learning what works and what doesn’t work, and a lot of it is just me workshopping different ideas, using techniques the various professors are teaching to us in class [...] and that’s really how a lot of our classes work. [...] I have gotten involved in at least 3 department productions, which is a lot for someone who is only in their second year. I was the assistant director for a show my first quarter, and then I was the assistant stage manager for my second quarter and the fall quarter. [...] I’m really just getting immersed in theater, TFT is a professional school - one of the few at UCLA [...] you’re learning in this academic field and you’re doing more than just learning about the field. TFT’s objective is to prepare you for a professional career in theater, so once you leave, after your four years, you’re expected to be able to have the skillsets to have a viable career in theater. [...]

Q: What do you want your future/career to look like?

A: I’m really into Shakespeare, so I want to direct a lot of Shakespeare plays, his entire cannon and musicals as well - those are my dreams, but I’m also not closed off to any sort of creative endeavors, I think the entertainment industry is super cool. It’s something that I would totally love to explore, just in general, I’m just not opposed to any creative endeavors, but I’m looking to directing as my goal.