Episode 79: Pursuing the Arts In College

Episode 79

• Episode 79 Transcript

  [EPISODE]

  [0:00:06] BT: Maybe you sketch in your free time, have a leading role in community theater production or dance in a semi-professional company. Whatever your arts interest, there are abundant opportunities to pursue it in college. I'm Brooke Thames from Bucknell University.

  [0:00:19] BHA: I'm Becca, also from Bucknell University. On this episode of College Admissions Insider, we're covering a topic that was recommended by you, our listeners. We'll be chatting with two current Bucknell students about their involvement in the arts. We'll talk about how they found opportunities on campus to get involved, what their activities look like and more.

  [0:00:40] BT: Let's start with some introductions. Can you give us your name, major and an overview of the arts that you're involved in outside of the classroom?

  [0:00:48] JK: I'm Jordan. I'm a sophomore mechanical engineering major, and I'm minoring in dance and math. On campus, I am an Arts Merit Scholar in dance, so I'm involved in Bucknell Dance Company. I'm also involved in Showcase. Just this past semester, I danced in Showcase, as well as, I was a choreographer. I'll be in Mainstage, which is Bucknell Dance Company Show's at the end of the semester.

  [0:01:11] CJ: Exciting! Awesome. My name is Claire. I'm a junior at Bucknell. I'm a history major in film and a media studies minor. I'm the president of the first all-gender acapella group at Bucknell called Two Past Midnight. I'm a member of the Cap & Dagger Theater and Dance Club. I've also previously participated in Cocktail Theater, Bucknell choir, and I was also in the Arts Residential College.

  [0:01:33] BHA: Wow. Before we dive into all of your arts activities here at Bucknell, let's take things back to before college. Did you explore your arts interests in high school or discover them once you got here?

  [0:01:47] CJ: A lot of my experience with the arts started when I was really, really young. My dad was in a band, and my mom played piano and sang. They were really involved in music. When I was three years old, my mom put me in dance class, and so that's kind of what introduced me to it. A lot of my passion for music, and the arts, and stuff like that kind of stemmed from dance class and also my parents.

  Then, they also put me in community theater when I was seven, so I've been continuing with dance classes and participating in music, like choir, piano lessons, as well as doing different theater productions like community theater, and school productions from elementary school to high school. It really has been like such a huge part of my life.

  [0:02:25] JK: I was very similar. I started dancing from a very young age at the YMCA, which I'm sure lots of people can relate to. I kind of kept dancing not too much throughout my middle school and elementary school experience, just one or two times a week. I did a whole lot of other sports, pretty much every other sport you can think of, so I had lots of different things I was up to. But my freshman year in high school, I decided I really wanted to start devoting myself to dance, I decided to start doing more ballet. I started going on pointe shoes. Just throughout my high school experience, I ended up doing a huge amount more dance, and I even danced competitively. I did find a lot of my interest in the arts and dance specifically through high school. But going to Bucknell, I've kind of gotten into a wider scope within dance.

  [0:03:14] BT: It's awesome to hear a bit about your history with your different interests. While you've been heavily involved in the arts over the years, you're both currently majoring in disciplines outside of the arts. But did you ever consider pursuing dance, music or theater before selecting a major on your application? And what led you to choose differently?

  [0:03:32] JK: I definitely thought about it a lot. I definitely thought about pursuing it just as a major for a little bit, but that did not get very far because I just didn't really want to be a part of the professional dance world. I also had a lot of injuries throughout my senior year, so I just didn't really feel like I was super equipped to handle just how much it is physically to be in professional dance. I did think about doing it as a double major, but there's very few places where you can do engineering and dance, and have them both be very high-quality majors. Then, I looked more into minoring in dance or just being part of a really serious dance club at one of the schools I was looking at. But I ended up finding Arts Merit and just the dance minor program in general at Bucknell, and I really fell in love with the scholarship. I loved my experience here for Arts Merit Weekend, so I just ended up going for the Bucknell program.

  [0:04:22] BT: Can you describe what Arts Merit is for our listeners?

  [0:04:25] JK: Yes. Arts Merit is a scholarship that they have set up for pretty much anyone who has any kind of interest in the arts. You apply for it before you come here. You can do it on your application, separate scholarship application. For dance, specifically, we sent in a dance reel. Then, from there, they invited us to audition over Arts Merit Weekend. But it completely depends on what you're doing it for, and there's an incredibly wide variety of different arts that you can do it with. I know there's film creative, writing, theater, of course. Lots of different options and I recommend it to every single person I give a tour to.

  [0:05:00] CJ: Awesome, that's really cool. I know a lot of really awesome people in the Arts Merit Scholarship area. For me, it's kind of similar for me, I actually really thought I would be a theater major, especially when I was in elementary school and middle school. Fun fact, I specifically wanted to be an actress/historian/author — that's the order I wanted it to be in when I was younger. My passion for history was always there, but the arts was such a big part of my life, but I really thought that was what I wanted to do. A lot of people also told me, "Oh, you should pursue that, that would be great for you."

  But then, kind of once high school came around, I'm not going to lie, I kind of realized, at least for me, it wasn't the most realistic supportive path. That kind of led me to the conclusion that even though I would be majoring in something else like history, because I'm really, really passionate about that, I could still participate and do the things that I love. I could still do community theater, I could still participate in different musical groups, and take dance classes, and stuff like that. That was really important to me, was making sure I can do it all, but I didn't necessarily have to major in it.

  [0:06:04] BHA: Even though you made the decision not to major in your art form, was it important for you to be able to continue it in college? How did that affect your college search process, and ultimately, your decision to choose Bucknell?

  [0:06:18] CJ: It definitely was important for me to participate in a lot of my artistic interests in college. That's really the reason why like the Arts Residential program at Bucknell really drew me to the school. Because not only what I be surrounded by and living with people who are interested in the same things as me — like who were interested in music, musical theater, dance — but I also would be participating in a lot of artistic events. What's cool is that they have a section called Common Hour, and that's just basically a block of time where you get to hang out with everyone in the program, and you get to participate in a lot of different artistic events. We did a lot of dance workshops; we even delved into poetry and stuff like that. That was really awesome.

  I also was drawn to Bucknell's curriculum as well because a lot of our curriculum…what is kind of stressed is this idea of taking classes that are required for your major, but also taking classes that are outside of your major. In that way, I would have the opportunity to take classes in theater, music and dance. But also, I think our curriculum also allowed me to focus on a lot of new interests outside of the artistic interest I had. It definitely was an important part in choosing Bucknell.

  [0:07:26] BT: Jordan, you mentioned that you are an Arts Merit Scholar, so you were embedded in arts from the very start. I'm curious, can you tell us a little bit about your experience, once you got on campus? Were there opportunities that you discovered more organically?

  [0:07:39] JK: Arts Merit, it really is its own little core group of people. We all really know each other within every year. Pretty much the second you get on campus, Professor Knox — who is our modern dance professor here — she set up a meeting with all of us, talked to us about what classes we were taking, figured it out. It is part of the requirements, at least for me, as of my scholarship — I believe they have changed a few things for the year below us — it was a requirement that we are in a dance class every semester. I did already have support in being in a dance class.

  I remember I had a really difficult schedule. Being in engineering, you tend to have a little bit of a pack for semester, just because of one of the classes we take just has a very large block in it. It made it a little bit difficult for me to enroll in a dance class. But they were incredibly helpful with it, which is a big part of why I loved Bucknell so much, because they actually let me take half of a ballet class and a half of a modern class to fill up my semester requirement.

  But throughout Arts Merit with the requirements it has, you are required to be in a show. I know it used to be that you were required to be in Showcase, so all the first year Arts Merit scholars in dance would be in Showcase. That was already something that you were expected to be a part of, you got to be part of. It's a really great introduction into Bucknell dance, and arts, and everything along those lines. But they just kind of keep recommending new things for you to do every single semester. I can't even begin to be a part of every single opportunity that I have within dance here.

  [0:09:13] BHA: Just from what you've described, so far, you are both incredibly involved. Can you help give our listeners some perspective? How would you gauge your level of involvement? How do you balance your academics with everything that you're doing outside of that?

  [0:09:28] JK: For me, personally, it really depends on the semester. Some semesters, I'm much more heavily involved because I do have a little bit of a lighter schedule. But some semesters, I have a much heavier schedule, of course, and I'm a little bit less involved. This semester, I had some credits for a couple of math classes, so I was taking a few less engineering classes, so I thought it would be a good chance for me to get a little bit more involved.

  It is also traditional for Arts Merit in dance, and just people who are minoring in dance in general, to choreograph and showcase during their second semester of their sophomore year. I did get to do that this semester, that was my way of being a little bit more involved. Obviously, taking on an opportunity that you really don't have it a lot of other schools. I was really excited to choreograph, definitely going to do it again. But personally, for me, I don't think I'm going to be part of Showcase again as a dancer. I would definitely like to do it again as a choreographer. I'll probably always be involved in Mainstage, which is Bucknell Dance Company's show that they have every semester.

  I'm not quite as involved as I technically could be. I'm not in really any executive or leadership positions within dance. But that does tend to come as you move up in the years, so like junior and senior year. I'd say, I'm 50% involved maybe right now, but I could definitely kick it up a notch if I chose to, which is a really nice option to have.

  [0:10:49] CJ: Yes, that's definitely a really good point. I know, for me, I feel like honestly, I kind of have actually taken a little bit of a step back in some of my interests, at least in dance and theater. Because, I feel like music, I'm really a big part of it. I have a lot of friends in the music department, and also being in Two Past Midnight. That's just been such an amazing outlet. I also did act in Cocktail Theater, which is basically like a 10-minute play directed by a fellow student, which was super fun. But overall, I actually have been doing a lot less dance and theater performances than I thought I would prior to college.

  It's been really interesting for me, and I think it's kind of been nice to kind of take a step back, and also just kind of find new interests, like my interest in film, and creative writing, and stuff like that. While also still, supporting the arts by seeing the theater and dance performances. Hopefully, in the future, I can audition for the dance Showcase, I think that'd be really awesome. Kind of like dip my toes in that again.
  But yes, for me, I think, especially being the president of an a capella group who has to schedule a lot of things. I think, like Jordan said, one of the most important things is time management. I really do think that Bucknell does have a good support system for that, especially because we're a liberal arts school, like they really do encourage getting involved in so many different types of activities. I think that's also one of my favorite things about Bucknell, is just having that availability to be involved in so many things. The main thing to do is just to really manage your time, but it's okay to take time off of stuff like I did. But you always have the option to go back to it if you want.

  [0:12:28] BT: Along with involvement in any activity at any level comes community. So can you tell us how your involvement in the arts has helped you become embedded in Bucknell and find belonging here.

  [0:12:38] CJ: For me, a lot of my community and support system really stems from the Arts Res College, Two Past Midnight, and then also Cap & Dagger Theater and Dance Club. I have to say, my best friends to this day, were the people that I met through the Arts Residential College, right on my first day of Orientation at Bucknell. They have been such a great support system. Two Past Midnight has also been super welcoming, really, really strong support system for me. I think there's something really special about getting to connect with other students through creating music, without any instruments, just using your vocals. That has just been really awesome, and they truly are like the most welcoming people.

  That's also with Cap & Dagger as well. I think what's really great about with Cap & Dagger is that they welcome people who participate in theater and dance, but they also accept people who are just really enthusiastic about theater and dance. You don't have to participate in it, but you can just be really enthusiastic about it. You find all those commonalities, which I think is really, really cool. So those groups for me have been absolutely amazing. There's just something really special about creating art with so many different people.

  [0:13:48] JK: I definitely had a very similar experience. I was not in the Arts Residential College, though, definitely something I recommend, especially they really encouraged it for Arts Merit Scholars. I was in a different res college, I was in Discovery, which I did find a lot of my friends through the Discovery Residential College. But what's really nice about being so involved here with dance — and with lots of other things, of course — is that you can kind of have a foot in a lot of different circles. You don't have to just choose one thing to be a part of on campus.

  I would say. I'm just as close with my friends from my first-year hall, as I am with the people in dance. One of the people I dance with, actually, I'm going to be rooming with her next year. I'd say, it's just a really nice community to have, because like you said, it really is, you're creating art with all these other people. It's also really nice that it's a group of… it's not a group of first years, of sophomores, or juniors, it's everyone. Kind of, everyone's the same, everyone's there to make their art. Again, for me, it's dance. Everyone just is really there to have fun, enjoy what they're doing.

  Especially at Bucknell, because we have so many different arts programs, and the dance minor is really nice because no one's really there looking to necessarily try and go professionally. They're all here because they just really love to dance and want to keep it in their life.

  [0:15:01] BHA: I appreciate so much how each of you have described the community and support that you've received from being a part of the arts community at Bucknell. I'd love to end with maybe just a snippet of what has been your favorite part in your time so far.

  [0:15:17] JK: Easily, it has been the chance to choreograph a dance. That's something I've wanted to do for a really long time. I got to choreograph a little bit of my final solo my senior year [of high school], and I absolutely loved it ever since. I'm really grateful that we have the choreography class, it's called Dance Composition. I got to choreograph for absolutely amazing dancers this semester. We just had Showcase about a week ago. It's a really incredible opportunity to have, as well as all the different leadership positions we have here. We have student directors, assistant directors that are students. The dance program in general has given me so many opportunities that I really never expected to have, which I'm really incredibly grateful for.

  [0:16:01] CJ: Yes, that's so awesome. I definitely agree with all that. This might be a little cheesy, we kind of already talked about it. But I know, for me, my favorite part about the arts community at Bucknell truly is the people that you meet. I really think that a lot of these bonds that you make, they truly do last a long time, like a whole lifetime. Especially at Bucknell, our alumni connections are super strong, especially because we do have that smaller population. With that, you'll find yourself connecting with a lot of our alumni who were involved in the same groups as you. I know, for me, I've connected with so many people who were in Two Past Midnight, and they're such cool people, and you get to hear about what they're doing career-wise, and getting to learn about their experiences being in the same group that you were in. In the future, you might find yourself returning to these communities as an alum yourself, which I think is really, really cool. I definitely think like the people that you not only meet at your time, but also all the alumni you meet, and all the people who were involved in the same things as you. That connection definitely bridges across time, which I think is really nice.

  [0:17:09] BT: I've loved hearing about all of your experiences in dance and theater and music and beyond. I'm sure this will be a really inspiring episode for the high schoolers who are listening. Thanks again for joining us.

  [0:17:19] JK: Thank you.

  [0:17:20] CJ: Thank you so much.

  [0:17:21] BHA: Thanks to everyone out there listening. If you're a fan of the podcast, please take a moment to rate, subscribe and share this episode with the artists in your life.

  [0:17:30] BT: We'll be back with another episode in a few weeks. In the meantime, send your questions, comments and episode ideas to podcast@bucknell.edu. We read every note.

  [0:17:42] BHA: Finally, you're invited to follow Bucknell on your favorite social media apps. Just look for @BucknellU on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok. You can also follow our student-run Instagram account which is, @iamraybucknell.

  [0:17:57] BT: Definitely check out some more artists on there. Until next time, keep on reaching for your dreams and your dream school.

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