Macaulay Students For The Long Haul
Upon waiting a tumultuous span of time for a large conference from artists and performers, young Macaulay Honors students were plagued by hunger and boredom. Those that intended to come for an eventful spectacle of inspiring messages found themselves falling asleep to a panel of unexcited speakers that were not able to communicate any true passion in their respective fields. Perhaps I am being too harsh so in revision of my previous statement I will say that in the slue of speakers, perhaps one and a half speakers communicated any real passion in their work. The night started out with a room filled with round tables, just as any other Macaulay event. Students were mandated to be present because this session was deemed very helpful to the Macaulay Honors community. Students seated themselves accordingly and waited for the faculty to introduce each speaker. But once the speakers began describing their lives and their trials as a performer, the audience was just as disinterested as they were. In several instances, the speakers announced their uncertainty in their fields and their constant struggle. As part of the audience, the general feeling was, “I can’t believe we’ve waited hours to listen to this.” Most of the audience intended to major in areas other than the performing arts and perhaps ten percent were seriously concentrated on the performing arts but no one was impressed by the message. After the speakers communicated their different fields of profession, students were instructed to choose a specific workshop, lead by each respective speaker. This was the only eventful aspect of the night. A large gathering of students headed towards the filmmaker workshop to gain further insight in this field. A few individuals were chosen to take part in a scene of an upcoming production and asked to say a few lines. Students everywhere fell silent as these brave individuals went in front of the camera to do their bit. The aftermath of the whole evening was just a great big laugh. That little blurb washed all away all the bad feelings from the beginning of the night. But after evaluating this event, it’s clear that some sessions serve to be more taxing than beneficial to the Macaulay Honors students.