Realize your potential.
I stand in front of the flyer currently hanging on one of the many bulletin boards placed throughout the hallway. The school colors coat the piece of paper as staged students offer wide smiles along with the three words listed across the top.
Realize your potential.
It's a phrase that I have heard endlessly over the past couple of months, especially in the last two weeks. It's as if the community college staff has been trained to use those three words at any chance they get.
It's on all their email signatures, bus advertisements, and even on banners around campus now. I swear the woman from the registration office said it a total of five times while we were on the phone, and one of those times being as we said our goodbyes.
It's exhausting.
Don't get me wrong. The phrase is a solid one. One filled with hope and what appears to be wisdom. It's supposed to encourage us and convince us that by going to community college we can ultimately realize what we're capable of achieving if we just put our minds to it.
And maybe that's true, but seeing as this is only my first day on campus, I can't really make a real judgment call on the matter.
All I can say is that by this point, I'm tired of all the pressure this school has on realizing one's potential.
Stepping away from the flyer, I check my watch and notice how much time I still have before my next class. I've already had two classes this morning, and now I have an hour until my acting class is meant to begin.
Not knowing what to do with myself, or my time, I decide to duck out of the classroom building and head towards the other building only a hundred feet away. It's the building that acts as the college's fine arts center with a real theatre provided and everything.
Entering the building, I notice a strange wave of anxiety hit me as I prepare myself for the other students I may find. Theatre isn't foreign to me, and neither are the students who usually live within the community. All I hope is that their little "community" is welcome to newcomers, such as myself.
Attempting to keep myself at ease, I walk further through the building as I examine the various show posters hung up over the walls. I recognize a lot of the show names included in the line up, which almost gives me a little hope. At least the college picks good shows.
As I reach what appears to be the main lobby of the building I don't find any groups of students hanging around. Instead, I find one girl sitting alone as she busily knits purple thread together. It's obvious she's quite comfortable with the task at hand, seeing as her pattern looks well handled and doesn't contain the same holes included in my own knitting.
I watch her as I continue moving forward, when suddenly she looks up from her work and surprisingly flashes me a smile.
Feeling odd now that I've been caught, I slow to a stop and offer her my own smile.
"Hey, you're really good at that. That looks amazing!" I tell her, admiring the light purple pattern she has now created.
"Thank you," she replies with a now larger smile.
However, her kind reaction is the second thing I notice next to the English accent behind her words.
There are English students at this school? How is that possible?
"Are you here for a class or just browsing around?" she asks me before I can gather more of my thoughts.
Why am I here again?
"Oh, I'm actually early for a class that's supposed to start soon. Acting One at two o'clock," I say.
"I'm in the same class," she states with kindness coating her voice. "And to tell you the truth I'm a little nervous about it. I haven't done any acting in years."
A part of me relaxes as I move to sit in one of the other armchairs near her. I give her my own smile, nodding at her words.
"You're definitely not alone. I'm a little intimidated since I'm in the same boat…and I also don't really know anyone," I explain.
The girl lets out a quick laugh.
"You're talking to the girl who jumped the pond from England to come here. Besides a select few students in the music program, I know as many people as you do," she tells me.
"Well, then I guess we'll both be fighting the crowd together," I say with a laugh.
"That we will," she nods. "I'm Nat, by the way."
She stops her knitting so she can offer her hand out to me, which I quickly take.
"Olivia," I offer my own name back to her.
"Pretty," she states as we each pull our hands away.
"Thank you," I say, leaning back in my chair.
Perhaps I didn't have anything to worry about. It seems as though there may be students involved in the theatre program who may be just as new and lost as I am. Maybe that will just mean we'll stick together.
Or maybe I'm getting a little too ahead of myself. Relax those hopes and dreams, Olivia.
Nat and I get to chatting for a little while and I find out she was born and raised in Brighton. She's only in Colorado in order to see her grandmother and she decided she would take care of some college credits while she visited. She's interested in science areas mainly, but she decided flexing her creative bone with an acting class couldn't hurt.
Before we know it, the clock in the lobby reads ten minutes to two and we figure we should move into the classroom to grab a seat. We walk together and I feel silly how excited I am by the simple interaction. I feel like a golden retriever looking for someone to pet me.
Nat also chooses to sit next to me in the classroom and we continue our simple conversation. Other students file into the classroom, but I don't really notice them because none of them chose to even sit remotely close to me. However, just as the clock is one minute from two, a lanky boy slips into the room and moves towards the empty seat next to me.
"Evan," he states as he gets settled into his seat. He then reaches his hand out for me to shake very abruptly and confidently.
I take it and give him a small smile as we shake hands.
"Olivia," I tell him.
"Nice to meet you!" he exclaims.
Before we can share anymore words, a man moves into the room and offers us all a wide smile. There's a bounce in his step and kindness in his eyes that makes me relax into my seat more, but I'm also now aware of the other faces around the room.
"Good afternoon, everyone," he offers, setting his things down on a nearby table. "This is Acting One at two o'clock, so if anyone is in the wrong spot then feel free to let me know and we'll get you where you need to be."
No one says anything or gets up, signaling that we've all managed to find ourselves in the correct class.
"Great, great," he continues. "Before we get started I'd like to take a quick role so I can make sure you're all here."
The man starts going down the list, saying each name and waiting for a response from one of the students. When the student says here, he looks up at them and states their name once more to himself as if he's trying to memorize their face with their name. His extra effort makes me confident he'll likely have all of our names down by the end of the class period.
"Olivia Hartman," he calls, breaking through my thoughts.
"Here," I almost squeak as I raise my hand.
He looks up at me and offers a small smile before he nods. "Thank you, Olivia."
My cheeks burn as I lower my hand and hear him carry on down the list. However, as I stare at the other students none of them seem fazed by my awkward outburst, which almost makes me feel better. Almost.
"Alright. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Daniel Finn. You can call me Daniel. I don't need the Mr. Finn or anything like that. I'm the head of the theatre department here and I also teach Acting One and Two, Theatre Appreciation, and help out with our music program alongside the music director, Gideon Burke."
Daniel goes on to talk about his credentials from studying in New York, his performance experience, and then finally his love for teaching. It's very easy to tell he's a warm person based on the eye contact that he scatters across the room and the way he talks about theatre. Perhaps I did put myself in good hands after all.
"Now, I want you to get with a partner and tell them your name, major, and why you're taking this class. Then we'll all go around the room and introduce each other. Sound good? Go ahead."
For a split second I panic about finding a partner, but I am quickly put at ease when I hear Evan's peppy voice next to me.
"Hey, Olivia. Wanna be partners?"
I turn and smile at him, thankful for his friendly nature.
"Sure thing. Why don't you start?" I say to him, listening intently for his answers.
Quickly I learn that Evan is someone who wants to make other people laugh. He cracks many jokes as we discuss our answers and his energy remains in such a positive place that it's almost infectious. By the end of the conversation my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
Daniel goes around and begins to call on other pairs to introduce one another. A lot of their answers are similar as to why they're taking acting, which is mainly that they want to break out of their shell. I find that very interesting since I had assumed most of my classmates would be there just due to a love for theatre.
"Evan and Olivia," Daniel finally calls on us and Evan comes alive once more.
"This is Olivia. She's thinking that she wants to major in theatre performance or theatre educations. And the reason she's taking this class is because she wants to better her abilities in acting and further confirm that this is what she wants to do for the rest of her life!" Evan states, nailing my introduction on the head.
"This is Evan," I begin, gesturing to my classmate with a smile. "He's currently focusing on a degree in the arts, and he's taking this class because he loved Theatre Appreciation so much and wanted to continue moving forward in theatre!"
I look back at Daniel and he's smiling at both of us.
"Well, welcome to the class. I look forward to working with both of you," he states. "Now, let's move on to some games, shall we?"
The rest of the period consists of a few different name games as well as some improv exercises. The improv makes me a little tense, but I find after a few rounds that my anxiety is for nothing. Everyone is keen on being silly, especially Evan, and no one seems to be judging any of the decisions that anyone else makes. It's a breath of fresh air and I feel oddly welcome around my fellow peers.
"Thank you all for a wonderful first class. I'll see you all on Wednesday. Oh, and don't forget to check out the sign up board outside my office! Play auditions are next week and I would love for all of you to try out!" Daniel says before he disappears out of the room with his things in tow.
The rest of us slowly pack up our things, exchanging a little conversation as we prepare to leave the room.
"Do you think you're going to audition?" I ask Evan and Nat as they slide their backpacks on.
"I'm not sure. I have work and stuff, so I don't think I'll really have time," Evan says.
"Yeah, I don't know either. I guess I would need more information," Nat states.
We all walk out of the classroom together and head to the lobby where the sign up board currently stands. As we get close I can see a small poster that has the name of the show written across it, which instantly makes my heart leap in my chest.
"The Glass Menagerie," Evan reads as we stop in front of the board. "Huh…I think I've heard of that. Have you?"
He turns to ask me and I instantly nod my head.
"It's one of my favorites actually," I state, looking over the character descriptions and sides that have also been placed on the board.
"Then you should sign up!" he tells me, picking up the pen and holding it out to me.
"You know what," I say," I think I will."
Usually this is the moment I would pull out and abort the mission altogether, but for some reason I felt a little braver as I take the pen from Evan. Instead of running away and never approaching the board again, I write my name down on a line for Wednesday of next week, smiling once I'm done.
"Then I guess I'll have to sign up too," Evan states, taking the pen and writing his name below mine.
After he's done, we both turn to look at Nat who shrugs her shoulders and takes the pen.
"Yeah, why not? I might as well give it a shot," she says, writing her name now below Evan's.
I smile as Nat puts the pen back, excited about the current bond I feel to my peers standing at the board with me.
However, before I can think anymore about my potentially new friends, I hear a guitar playing from down the hall that grabs my attention instead.
Another guitar quickly joins the first, and then a bass and drum set soon follow. It's not only the fact that music is now being played that has shifted my focus, but also the fact that the blend of music sounds incredible. It's too loud to be someone just merely playing music off a laptop through a speaker. It's too fresh, too pure. Which means that someone, or rather more than one person, is currently performing said music.
"Want to go see?" Nat asks, obviously noticing the way I'm staring off towards the music.
I nod my head and my feet begin to move in the direction at which the sound is coming from. I hardly notice Evan and Nat following along with me because I'm too focused on finding the source of the fluid melodies.
Finally, we reach a door and I peer in through the small glass window as I find a group of boys strumming and drumming away at their instruments. A microphone is placed right in front of each of them, but only one of them sings currently. And boy, can he sing.
He has dark hair that is styled neatly upward. His voice is strong and smooth as he sings into the microphone and his fingers are light against the strings of his bass guitar.
However, my attention is then drawn to a boy with blonde hair who takes over the vocals while he strums away on his guitar. He's just as good of a singer, but his voice sounds more boyish than the dark haired boy's. There's a certain charm though that makes me smile as he pours out each lyric.
And just like that, the vocals change once more to the drummer now who handles his drumsticks with ease as he sings each line into the microphone placed before him. But the other two boys also join him in the lyrics, making the vocals even stronger than before.
I'm nearly completely captivated when my attention shifts for the last time to the one guy who is the farthest away from me in the room.
As the other boys continue the verse, this final member begins a riff that makes my stomach almost flip completely and my knees shake. He's so effortless as he pushes out the notes with his eyes shut and his long fingers working against the strings of his guitar. I can't take my eyes off of him even as the others boys continue.
His semi curly brown hair, his tattoos covering his arms, the way he's currently putting his entire body into his performance; I'm at a loss and I know I'm ogling him. However, I feel safe knowing that his eyes are shut and he can't see the way I'm staring at him. Although, I did forget about the other two bystanders with me.
"Amazing, huh?" Nat asks. I can practically hear the smile in her voice before I turn to face her.
"Yeah," I breathe out. "They're really good."
"It's kind of unfair how good they are considering they've only been playing together for a few weeks," she states.
"You know them?" I ask, nodding towards the boys who have now finished their song.
"I do," she says. "They're actually from my parts back in England. They came out here to check out some of the American music programs you all have, and it seems that it's working well for them."
I nod again, turning back to look at the boys who are all laughing and prepping for their next song.
However, my eyes quickly become locked back on the tattooed one, biting my lip as I see the dimple that presses into his cheek as he smiles at his friends.
"Ah yes," Nat says as she follows my gaze. "That would be Harry Styles."