"If you had told me...": The Story of How I Found Theatre Education

Everyone assumes that if you decide to be a teacher that you must have always wanted to be one, but that wasn't my story.

If you had told me...

If you had told five-year-old Cassie that she would want to be a teacher when she grew up, she would have ignored you. Five-year-old Cassie was going to be a prima ballerina.

If you had told twelve-year-old Cassie that she would be a Theatre Education major, she would have laughed. Twelve-year-old Cassie was going to sing and dance on Broadway.

If you had told eighteen-year-old Cassie that she would not be able to pursue a career in performing, she would have agreed with you. Eighteen-year-old Cassie had gotten a reality check.

Life Isn't Always What You Dreamed

After a serious bout of bronchitis my junior year of high school, I was informed by my Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor that I would never be healthy enough to pursue a performance-based career. By that time, it had been years since I had said goodbye to my toe shoes for children’s choir, but my vocal training and dreams of one day performing had continued. When I realized that I couldn’t pursue theatre in the original way I had planned, it was time to figure out Plan B.

Theatre Education Majors at THED Weekend 2017 following a workshop with Joe Deer (3rd Row, Center) on Teaching Singing Actors.

Plan B was Theatre Education. That in no way implies that I settled for Theatre Education. I found Theatre Education, or rather, it found me. I fell in love with theatre because of the amazing teachers that I was blessed with through the years. From my Drama Club advisor in middle school to my English and Theatre teachers in high school, I observed in my own life and the lives of my classmates, the impact that the arts can have in schools. Theatre was something that we could rally around. We learned together how to take risks, handle rejection, and collaborate on projects. I knew that I wanted to help other people like me, the shy girl in the corner with her nose in a book, fall in love with an art form that allowed me to come out of my shell.

Sometimes Dreams Find You

After my interview with the Ball State Theatre Ed faculty members in November of my senior year, I was fairly certain that I wanted to proceed with this line of work, but what finally did it was the Christmas Assembly my Theatre teacher put on that year. Even though she was dealing with students that had never sang or danced a day in their lives, she choreographed and directed an abbreviated mash-up of A Christmas Carol and Guys and Dolls, amazingly not the strangest combination she has put together, that had everyone in the auditorium smiling by the end of the show.

As we held our final pose, I was absolutely certain that I wanted to bring that same joy into other students’ lives. From that point on, I knew that I wanted to teach Theatre, because nothing in my life had brought as much joy as the experiences my high school theatre program had provided.

So, if you had told me a year and a half ago that I would be falling in love with theatre all over again, you would be right. Since I began my journey with Theatre Education, I have found a love for teaching that has forever changed theatre’s place in my life. And that’s a wonderful change.