"Doing things I didn't think I could" by Noelle Mestres

Noelle Mestress is a Freehold student and is taking our Step II: Acting with Text class this Winter Quarter. We thought it'd be interesting to
follow her along on her class journey. This is the first of her blog posts. More to come over the next 8 weeks of class.

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So, I’m in Sarah Harlett’s Step II: Acting with Text class. Sarah is a fantastic teacher and has a way of making a safe space to, frankly, let whatever comes about, come about, while teaching, supporting and guiding at the same time.

I took Intro to Acting with George Lewis because “I’ve always wanted to act” (so cliché) but mostly because I’m so darn self-conscious and shy that I figured it was a great way to be literally FORCED out of my shell.

I was right.

And, it continues in Sarah’s class.

I’m completely freaked out to be there yet I love it. I’ve been able to do things I didn’t think I could ... in front of people no less! I don’t know if I’ll really be able to act officially but I’ve found that I’m not really too concerned about that right now; I just want to really get what it means to bring my true self to imaginary circumstances. I thought that sounded so easy. It’s really hard. Before Freehold I thought that acting meant being someone else.

This week, we get assigned scripts and partners. That also completely freaks me out but I’ve found that whether or not I can do it is not the point and probably; I’ll be able to do it. I came home from class last week completely energized, wondering what the heck I was doing, being terrified of this week and not being able to wait for it to get here.

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Stay tuned for more blog posts from Noelle!