Some things are meant to be left behind.
Entering college, students undergo some natural shedding. Perhaps they stop playing an instrument or abandon their favorite sitcom, strictly because their new schedule is not compatible with former passions. As we change in this new environment, however, we should be cautious about what we choose to lose.
I did not plan on doing theater when I came to Georgetown University. I had already told my friends and family I was leaving my theater experience in the past. Sure, I enjoyed theater in high school, but continuing to perform in college felt somewhat childish and, quite honestly, lame. I thought to myself, “Am I really still going to do this? In college?” There was so much more that I thought I could be doing with my time.
I held firm to this plan until I showed up to campus. My newest friend — the first person to reach out to me from the class of 2028 Instagram page — dragged me to the “O-Show” in the Village C Theatre, organized by Georgetown’s cocurricular theater groups for incoming students to see the different organizations perform. I recall waiting at the bottom of the steps to the theater, torn between retreating back into my dorm and sticking it out to get to know my new friend and his roommate.
Before I could bail, I was corralled into the overcrowded black box and seated in the front row, where everything moved at a mile a minute. Upperclassmen assured me, “We’re so glad you’re all here! You’re going to love it!” Soon, the lights dimmed, and the O-Show began.
The show was not magical, nor was it awe-inspiring. An advertisement for cocurricular theater disguised as a spoof of the “Mean Girls” musical, the show was not high art, but still hilariously strung together. It showed me what theater in college could look like: a lot of fun.
So, out of the fear of missing out, I filled out a form to get involved, and I have not looked back since. And after every production, I get roped into the next — and I could not be happier about it. The arts have always been such an important part of my life. I cannot believe I ever considered giving them up for something more “serious.” In college — and especially at a place as pre-professionally oriented as Georgetown — we must not abandon the arts.
Sure, I understand that time at Georgetown is valuable and that field-relevant experiences are important for constructing an employable profile before graduation. But I simply cannot fathom how pre-professional consulting could be more fulfilling than performing alongside your friends or how managing an investment portfolio could be more worthwhile than painting portraits of your loved ones.
Beyond fulfillment, the arts offer new dimensions for a person to explore: substantial creative experiences that can be applied in many contexts of the real, working world. Much of the arts blend collaboration with the creative, which often develop independently. Developing these two skills together uniquely positions those in the arts to balance personal and group ambitions.
Why waste the opportunities that the arts offer by only choosing club organizations that fit neatly on your resume? If college is truly the time to find yourself, why not do what you really want now, before you are consumed by the obligations of a future career?
So, this is a message to the person I could have been — the one who left the arts behind: There is so much more to your college experience. Give yourself the grace to do the things that truly make you happy. Reconnecting with the arts may feel like a waste of precious time, but there is nothing more precious than your own passions. And while some things are meant to be left behind, the arts — and your own creative self-expression — should not be one of them.
Stratton Rebish is a first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences.