To be frank, all of the moving around and switching schools made it difficult for me to be truly vulnerable. I was, and still am, afraid of getting too close to people because it would just hurt both of us more when I eventually had to leave. Though logically I know it doesn’t make any sense, I am tired of hurting people and losing friends when I move, so it was just easier to keep people at arm's length. This obviously made things difficult in a creative setting, where trust is essential and knowledge about one another is almost a given. But I scraped by.

After a year here at UT, I realized that we, as freshmen, were all in the same boat. That had never been the case for me before, but it was a welcomed change. Being able to talk to people who were, for once, going through the same thing was huge for me. It opened lines of communication I didn’t have access to before, and especially when considering that a lot of my new friends are pursuing the same thing I am, who want the same things out of life, it was just an amazing feeling. I felt heard and understood in ways I never had before. Now, at the end of our freshman year, as I look forward to the next three years we have ahead of us, I can confidently say that I am not afraid of letting these people know me, even as I get to know myself. I know that I will change as a person and as an artist in these next few years, but I cannot wait to learn and grow with my friends beside me.

Collaboration has been the root of all of our work in this class; from devising, dance, design, and directing/playwriting, we have been encouraged to work with our classmates to create performance pieces. Even our final project is based on collaboration, not just with our classmates, but the collaboration of all the different areas we’ve learned about this past semester. It was truly exciting to be able to immerse ourselves in this work and get to know each other throughout this process. I admit I was scared of jumping straight into creation, but the end result has been nothing if not satisfying. My favorite embodiment of collaboration from PCP was our final assignment in dance, where we got to create a minute-long movement piece in a group. It motivated us to think and build off of each other’s ideas.

Collaboration was a very big part of my semester. I stage managed Roberto Soto’s Uncommon Objects, a show put on by a student organization. While we ran into a number of issues, we problem-solved and divided the work between us, and our end-result was something I am incredibly proud of. We put hours of work into the play, and it showed. The final product, when it was being performed with lights, sound, and costumes is something I will forever hold close to my heart, especially as it provided such an exciting learning experience for me.