A number of weeks ago, our IDC class went to the rehearsal space to listen to Susana Ventura, a performer who uses the stage name Penny Arcade. To be completely sincere, I have very mixed feelings about his particular outing. In the case of All of the other outings that our class went on, I have appreciated and liked them in their entirety as I saw really high-quality art, whether it be a performance, a gallery, a museum, and an opera. In this case, however, I can’t say for certain whether I liked this outing in its entirety. Indubitably, there were numerous aspects of our conversation with Penny Arcade that I appreciated and enjoyed, but I can recall a few that I felt were a tad bit too edgy or on the nose for my taste. In addition to telling us about her personal career and experiences, the speaker talked to us about many issues that she feels are very important and pressing in our society, ranging from safe spaces on college campuses to gentrification to censorship. I tried to be optimistic through the experience, but it proved slightly more difficult than I had imagined because of how on the nose the conversation was.

Penny arcade talked to us about how she got to where she is, and how her upbringing shaped her beliefs and opinions on all the aforementioned topics. She mentioned that she was from a very religious Italian family that, as she said, tried to instill their norms upon her which eventually forced her to run away from home to New York City at the age of seventeen. She said that she began performing at the age of seventeen and eventually went to Europe to see new things and meet new people, which is something that she felt was very important. She told us about the importance of coming out of our bubble of comfort and of meeting new people, as an opportunity can come from anywhere and it is our onus to grasp it.

One aspect of our conversation with Penny Arcade that I particularly appreciated was how she was able to connect with us, her audience. She made the conversation more of a dialogue by asking us about our majors and what we are studying in IDC in general. She then told us about how one of the issues that affects our generation is censorship, particularly how college students across the country demand safe spaces on campus, and how we should stop trying to shelter ourselves in our own comfort zone and be open to new ideas even if they contradict ours.