What CA Means to Me
Peter
Day Student
Waban, MA
How did CA’s Directors Seminar complement your academic experience at CA?
Directors Seminar is the perfect climax to my experience in theatre here. Since my freshman year, I have been involved in theatre in every aspect, but never really directing. I worked on a Frosh Project, but never a full show. This year, Directors Seminar gives me the opportunity to synthesize everything that I have learned or been interested in while at CA. All of my papers, classes, performances, games, and interests will influence me as a director and, in some way, will contribute to my show. For me, theatre has not been a complement to my academic experience, it has become my academic focus. This is the second year in a row where one of my major courses is a higher-level theatre course, and I would not have it any other way.
What have the arts contributed to your CA experience?
Everything! My CA experience has been about my arts education and experience and without them, I would not know nearly as much about myself as a person or artist. CA has cultivated the artist in me, refined my style, and allowed me to grow.
Are all CA students artists?
No. CA is not just for artists; it’s for the passionate. Not necessarily the outgoing, or those that know what it is they’re passionate about, but for people who pursue their interests, whatever they may be, with motivation and vigor.
What’s the secret to balancing theatre, athletics, classes, and your outside interests?
We would not be CA students if we did not take on much more than most people can handle. I don’t think that I’m an exception. It has been a challenge this year to balance acting in two shows, directing my own, writing a play for the Playwright Project, playing Ultimate Frisbee, editing The Scallion, and taking guitar lessons while keeping up with my work. But, it’s also been one of my best years at CA. Yes, I have to keep myself organized and work hard, but those are worthwhile skills to develop, and it allows me to do everything that interests me. I think it’s typical of CA students to not ignore an opportunity.
What CA experiences have inspired you intellectually?
The CA community—the faculty as well as students—provides constant intellectual stimulation and inspiration. One of the things that is fascinating me right now is collaboration, and I’ve been working on a wider range of projects with teachers and students. My teachers are also artists and athletes, and I try to interact with them in as many facets as possible. CA students are equally polymathic, and they really help you to get involved in more media and in more ways.
What does the notion of “love of learning” mean to you?
Love of learning means that students at CA engage in the academic pursuit of their interests out of love for those interests—not out of obligation or requirement. CA students learn because they want to. It is rare that I am in a class where the students are apathetic or complaining. CA students see the value in academics and act as such in the classroom.
Interests and Activities
Actor, numerous student theatre productions; cofounder, Improv Club and its ensemble (Dressed in Black and Vegan); editor, The Scallion (humor newspaper); writer, The Centipede (student newspaper); basketball; squash; Ultimate Frisbee; Boston Ultimate Disc Alliance; guitar
Of all these, do you consider any a passion?
Writing and theatre are my most powerful passions, but Ultimate Frisbee is an intense interest as well.
Have you done any coursework or projects that crossed disciplines?
In my history course, The African Slave Trade, I did a representation of Olaudah Equiano’s narrative through a pen-and-ink drawing based on two M.C. Escher drawings and photos of the Elmina slave castle. Also, I did a documentary film in my filmmaking class about the Vietnam draft in which I interviewed a draft protester, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, and a veteran.
