Participation in school drama productions leads to summer acting classes

My name is Cassandra (Cassie) Jean Bucy and I’m in 12th grade.

My artistic passion is drama, specifically acting (up on stage or behind the camera)

As much as I love acting, I never get much opportunity to work with new people and in different environments besides Seisen or St. Marys. Going to a whole new location and meeting a whole new group of people was really scary, and I struggled to fit in at first. But I told myself that if acting was really something I wanted to pursue I needed to put myself out there.

How old were you when you started? 
I was always a very melodramatic kid, but actual performing I believe went back to second-grade school performances.

How did you start and become interested in your art? 
Like I said, I was always sort of dramatic, but I think I really began to be interested in drama in 5th grade when I took drama as a SASA here at Seisen. 

How long have you been engaging in theatre? 
I've been engaging fully in theater throughout middle and high school, watching plays and musicals obsessively, and participating in (almost) every single Seisen play and musical since even before covid-19. (check out the drama room wall and I can guarantee I've been in a majority of those productions)

How often do you practice theatre, and where? 
I do theatrical things practically every day, but formally I practice at Seisen with their productions (actual practice times depend on the show) and during my drama EL (every Tuesday period six). 

What type of events are you involved with?
This past summer, I got the amazing opportunity to take acting classes at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design -- the college I plan to attend next year)! During this event, I stayed on campus for a week and took two different two-hour classes. My morning class was acting for the camera, where my classmates and I got to perform a few small scenes and commercials on an actual film set, each of us getting to do all the different roles that make up a real film (director, actor, camera operator, etc.). In my afternoon class, we wrote, filmed, and edited our own short films in groups of 3-5, learning the different techniques behind each role. This class also allowed us to use real filming equipment, as well as be able to explore one of the only full-sized (fully functioning) backlot that the school was building, which was very cool.

The week went really well! In my morning class, I got to perform in 3 commercials and two scenes, as well as directing a few others' scenes, and learning new techniques for acting on camera (such as hitting your mark and slating). The class was great and by the final day when parents could come in our teacher had given us enough confidence in what we were doing to simply be able to sit down and watch us film/perform. In my afternoon class, we were able to fully finish our 1-minute short film, despite having a ton of roadblocks within our group. I think I learned a lot as an actor during this experience, but also as a collaborator. I was able to meet people from all over who were just as passionate about acting as I was, and getting to work with each of them in different ways was an amazing experience and has helped me to become a better group member. 

What challenges have you faced? 
I'd say my biggest challenge, apart from technical issues in my second class (our camera and audio broke but we improvised and did a comedic dub instead) would be trying something so out of my comfort zone. As much as I love acting, I never get much opportunity to work with new people and in different environments besides Seisen or St. Marys. Going to a whole new location and meeting a whole new group of people was really scary, and I struggled to fit in at first. But I told myself that if acting was really something I wanted to pursue I needed to put myself out there. So, with a whole new set of clothes from JCPenny, I decided to put myself out there more than I had before. It was difficult and very scary, but the outcome was worth it. I made so many friends and had an awesome time not just learning but connecting with people as well. I got to be my silly, nerdy self and people liked being with me for who I am!

Please share some words of advice for budding artists: 

To young thespians and artists in general, I'd say my best piece of advice is to go for what you love (even if it's scary) and don't be ashamed to be weird or silly doing it!