Taking risks, trying new things and learning about your new interests, despite the fear of failure, is important. Instead of being afraid of doing something as time consuming as theatre, or hanging out with new people, one of our own students conquered the stigma against risk taking.

Jacob Busby, a freshman, came to our school with a mindset to try new things, leading him to the theatre department. Changing into different personas on a dim stage in front of strangers are unnerving to some. It takes some people an extensive amount of time to even be able to get a role in the cast. Busby joined theatre for the first time this year, gained a spot as the lead in theatre’s UIL production and was awarded Best Actor multiple times.

“The role somewhat came naturally to me,” Busby said. “But there was a lot of background research that went into the character. I didn’t want to portray it in a wrong way, so I was very careful to do my research before I began acting.”

The prospect of trying new things is daunting to everyone. There’s no guarantee that success will always be at the end of hardwork, and Busby feared that too. But, with a stable support system at his back, he was pushed to try and theatre and gained a good experience from it.

“In the beginning of the year, the idea of acting or getting on stage repulsed me,” Busby said. “But my sister motivated me to go and get out of my shell. After school she’d come back out of rehearsal and say, ‘Jacob you’ve got to join the program. It’s really fun and everyone would like you.’”

With the support of close friends and family members, Busby acquired the opportunity to find a new passion. This has helped Busby find ways to show who he is and his true feelings.

“Acting is a great outlet and let’s you express some sides of yourself that you can’t really show in your day to day life,” Busby said. “If you’re tired after school, or have something on your mind, you can get rid of all that when you walk into the rehearsal room and just let instinct take over.”