Snap snap. Snap snap. Listening to my fellow actors recite their Me Too Monologues, I feel the recognition. Watching the actors perform the anonymously submitted monologues, this enormous campus starts to shrink. I look around the room and see actors nervously repeating their lines, preparing to bring life to someone else’s story. Our heart beats race together as we attempt to relay the truth and pain seeping through every individual story. Though I personally have not been in every situation described, I have felt these emotions. I want to shout that none of these experiences, the anxiety, the uncertainty, the heartbreak and the loneliness, are anomalies. I restrain my yelp of appreciation, but I still snap.
I snap because in a sea of 37,000 students, it can be incredibly hard to remember that you are not alone. It is difficult to remember all the communities we are a part of with people who care about us and our well-being. Sometimes this huge, fast-paced campus gives the feeling of being left behind and alone. The amount of people and activities can be overwhelming, intimidating, and thrilling. But even for students involved the wide array of organizations on and off campus, the challenge for all students lies in resisting getting lost in the hustle of campus life. To fight the feeling of isolation and to remember that others can relate and empathize to your own experiences. I snap to remind myself and the performers that all of our lives, though incredibly complex, are all connected.
Just being a member of this institution bonds us together. We all made the conscious decision to be a part of the UA community, and I think that we forget the incredible bonds associated with that choice. It took 37,000 big decisions along with millions of tiny ones that brought us all together to thrive and grow together. I truly believe that the relationships that come from learning at the higher education level yields deeper and more intense connections. We are all on the cusp of throwing ourselves, head-first, into adulthood and the common fear of our unknown futures brings us together more than we realize. We are supported by people who understand that no one has an actual idea of their next step. This is most terrifyingly impactful part of our lives, full of possibilities and uncertainties, which we could have experienced at any university, but we all decided to do it here.
Working with Me Too Monologues connected me to campus in a way that I never knew possible. Through taking someone’s words and using my own perception to shape my performance, I was having a dialogue with someone I had never met but nevertheless was responsible for conveying their message in the most honest and true way. Watching my fellow actors perform swelled my heart with affection and reminded me that no one on this campus is alone. All it takes is a simple “snap snap” to remember.
Samantha Rudelich is a junior majoring in business management. Her column runs biweekly.
