My first memories as a child was when my grandmother took me to my first play in Paris, which was on “Pinocchio.”. I knew the story of the play, because I watched it so often on video at home. It was my favourite. I knew every dance and every song. So when I saw it in Paris I acted it out in my loud four-year-old french voice as I sat in the front of the audience. There are many components I’ve learned about theater. First of all, there is a presence of diversity that keeps cultures and traditions alive. These heritages are passed down through generations with each of them evolving over time. Some of them are part of my culture and my family’s lineage. When I started my very first World Theater (taught by Prof. O’Malley) and Drama in Oceania (taught by Kumu Haili Baker) classes in 2023, I had a feeling that they were going to be about different types of theaters from different cultures and Pacific Island groups. But it showed me more than that. It was a way of life and a way of telling stories that are preserved. Through dance, through music, through religionistic rituals, it was more than just about theater on stage. I remember the first class I took when I came to UH was Beginning Contemporary dance (taught by Jean Carrio Mendez). I have to admit, I couldn’t keep up with the rhythm, but that class encouraged me to embrace a certain part of myself I thought I would have never revisited. As a Spaniard and Hawaiian, I’ve always embraced my cultures brightly. I attended Flamenco shows in the past and partook in Hula performances, but I never knew that dance was always a part of my life and it really aided me in theater. Theater takes all steps. My first year of college helped me start to realize that. Intro to stage production (taught by Maile Speetjens), intro to performance (taught by Josh Tavares), and my first practicum launched that outlook for me. I was only a beginner of course, but my teachers taught me well on how I can improve my acting skills and, most importantly of all, how I could work better with others. But that part I was still figuring out.   

          My second year of college was more challenging than the one before. For the first semester of my sophomore year, I did a practicum (taught by Hannah Schauer) where I was assisting people in the costume unit, checking to see if their outfits were there, if they were not torn, and organizing them. Some obstacles came along the way while I was working with a few other students and it really took a toll on me. I’ve learned that I should’ve handled the situation more calmly instead of over reacting. That was one of the many lessons in life I grasped when I am working with people who I did not vibe well with. It's not easy when you are autistic. I took two new World Theater classes (taught by Prof. O’Malley and Matthew Kelty), one on where we had to analyze different types of cultural performances and another one where we learned of different styles of world plays that date up to the year 1900, for example we had to learn what was a melodrama and how it was significant in culture and history. The second semester of my sophomore year didn't bring its own problems, but more responsibilities were held toward me. I enrolled in two new theater classes that tested my understanding of leadership and patience. One was on beginning directing (taught by O’Malley) and the other one was guiding me to become a drama teacher (taught by Jonathan Sypert). I struggled at first, but my teachers gave me some good tips, such as tapping into the audience's emotions as I showed my lesson about Anne Frank. This benefited me to understand the power of theater. 

          The third year of college my growth as a theater student was substantial and not just because of the classes. That was a time when I started to participate in my very first serious musical production, “Rent” (directed by Josh Tavares), about young people living and struggling in New York City during the AIDs Pandemic in late 80s to early 90s, but not in just any part of the city, in the East village. Production did not start until the end of my first semester of junior year, where during that time I took classes that digged deeper into the process of auditioning for musical theaters and for the film industry. Through my experiences, I learned to grow with autistic challenges in the craft of theater. In one of my auditioning classes (taught by Tavares), we had to pick a song from a musical play and perform it on stage to the class. “Phantom of the Opera” is what I chose as I felt a connection to the Phantom who is misunderstood by society just like how I am judged for being autistic. I found another connection in my Hawaiian performance workshop class which was my bond with my Native Hawaiian heritage. For many years, I struggled with my identity and what it meant to be Native Hawaiian, but Kumu Haili helped me find who I am. In this class we had to work on a mo’olelo play. I chose to create one about ‘aumakuas and how they guide us. The inspiration came from the story my father told me about his experience with his aumakua, the pueo (the hawaiian owl). Kumu Haili encouraged me to keep this story in my repertoire for future possibilities. Throughout these years I have learned and matured from an uneducated theater student to a graduate who can use these experiences as a springboard to the next level.