Just like many of you, this fall I'm going to be a freshman in college. One thing that my college does not have, when compared to a lot of major universities, is sports.
This is going to be a culture shock for me, the boy who worships ESPN. DUN-NUN-NUN DUN-NUN-NUN!
I'm attending University of North Carolina School of the Arts, which is an arts conservatory, meaning they have very high-prestige arts programs ... but no sports.
Early in my childhood, I started played soccer, and I continued to play for years. I picked up tennis at about 12 years old. I played both into high school on the school teams until junior year. Junior year is when I committed myself to theatre. I quit both sports right before their appropriate seasons started (though I continued playing tennis recreationally afterward).
In the fall of junior year, I was very into performing, specifically musical theatre. I fell in love with theatre by getting involved in the ensemble of "The Phantom of Opera." That is when my dream began to change. I thought that because I could hold a G, I was hot stuff. I assumed I was good enough to make it as an actor. I look back and laugh at that.
See, later in the year I was playing in a tennis tournament and proceeded to get injured and stuck on crutches. Our theatre class had an upcoming pantomime show which I obviously was not able to perform in. My dream of acting seemed to be falling apart. That is, until my director decided to have me design sound for it. He loves to take pride and brag to me about why "he's the reason I'm going into sound" (although I also do projection design).
After doing sound for that pantomime, I did sound for just about every show that year. If any theatre or dance show that came through the door, I was the one designing sound for it. This new hobby led to me change my dream, but not until after seeing the cast list. By then, I had already quit the tennis team so I could commit all my time to the show and none to sports.
But in March the cast list for "Pippin" was posted, and I was cast in the ensemble. I was not only angry, but disappointed that I had gone from having a principal role sophomore year back to the ensemble a year later.
A week later, on the bus coming back from SETC with our award-winning production of "The Parchman Hour," I approached our director at the front of the bus. I sat down behind him and waited. After ten seconds of him continuing to talk to someone else, he finally stops and just stares at me. Another awkward five seconds, and now he gives me a little condescending head shake. Eventually, I got my words out. "I've put a lot of thought into this, but since I was displeased with the cast list for 'Pippin' I would like to tell you that I will be dropping out of the cast. With that said, I wanted to know if I could do sound for the show. I mean, I did quit the last form of sports that I had left in my life so I could commit my time to the show, and it's not like I'm not excited for the show ..."
He stared into my soul for what felt like years (though it's hard to stare at something that doesn't exist). I then got that trademark look of his, with a slight nod for "yes." That look where he tilts his head back a little, breathes in really deep, squints the eyebrows ever so slightly and then lets out a great big exhale. That look.
That look, and that moment, was when I truly knew what my dream was. When I knew how to combine some of my favorite things, theatre and technology. It was thanks to sports, my biggest internal contradiction, that I got involved in sound. I found something that I was passionate for and excelled at. I didn't plan on letting go of it any time soon, and I still don't. I am heavily excited to move in and start school at UNCSA. Although I'll be living without sports, I'll be okay. Plus, I get basic cable, so ESPN will help me get by. Come August 18, I'll be mostly sports-sober for the first time in my life.
Sure, Mr. Robinson can take some credit for helping me find my corner of the sky, but he should really be thanking my aggressive play style.
