Learning journal
What is your unique gift? – Do you believe in it enough to invest everything you have in it?
My unique gift is my ability to connect with others through theatre and music. Whether this is through performance, or networking, I believe that I am good at leaving a lasting impression on people. I believe in it, and I will invest everything I have in it. Not in a reckless way though- I’m not gonna be a starving artist.
What difference are you trying to make in the world? – How passionate are you about doing this?
I want to be an advocate for other artists. I want to be able to produce their plays and music (as well as my own works). I’m extremely passionate about this.
How do you define success for yourself? – What challenges do you face in order to create success?
Success for me would be being able to financially support myself off of my art, and being satisfied with the work that I do, meaning that I’m not just working church gigs, or odd theatre and singing jobs that I hate, success to me means I get to spend every day singing or acting or producing or writing about things that I’m passionate about. Some challenges I face: there are a lot of actresses/singers/writers who are better than me and have more connections than I do. Living in Atlanta is expensive, how will I be able to feed myself and pay rent while auditioning?
Not very many people know me there, how will I book auditions/ get work?
What is career vision and a mission?
Career vision is where you see yourself, a mission consists of the steps you’d take to get there.
Can you innovate and create value and successfully communicate that value to intended audiences?
I think so! I am confident about this ability in my singing and sometimes acting, but as I venture out into new areas like songwriting and playwriting, I am less confident about my abilities. I try not to let that stop me from pursuing my new goals.
Do you have a positive attitude?
Yes! I try to go into everything with a good attitude.
Have you set your goals? What is your road map to success? Can you set inspiring and realistic goals?
I have a lot of goals! Here are two of them and how I plan to achieve them
- Become a professional actress
- Audition at theatre conferences (FTC, SETC, Atlanta/NYC/Chicago unifieds, etc)
- Audition for apprenticeships at theatre companies (mostly ATL)
- Get your play produced
- Private reading at the 5 and Dime in March
- Short selection at the summer one act festival
- Fully produced in 2020
I used to think my goals were unrealistic, but I spent the past summer in Atlanta making lots of connections and quickly came to the realization that not only were my goals realistic, but I was already taking steps to achieve those goals.
Do you have and/or acquire the necessary expertise to actualize your vision?
Yes! Once I finish my degree, I will have the qualifications necessary for an apprenticeship in 2020 I’m applying for. As for all my other goals, I think once I graduate I’ll be ready.
What are your priorities? Can you set priorities?
Setting priorities is something I could definitely improve upon. Sometimes I start out with a list of goals and get overwhelmed and just start focusing on the things that I enjoy rather than getting more arduous tasks out of the way. Right now, my priorities are staying on top of my schoolwork and preparing for the Irene Ryan competition.
What opportunities are you looking for? What opportunities are you creating or intend to create?
I’m looking for any opportunity to network and expand my knowledge on the world of theatre and music. Recently I’ve been looking at different workshops and theatre festivals around the country that I can attend to possibly make new connections. I’m currently creating an opportunity to have my play produced.
How comfortable are you with uncertainty? What risks are you willing to take?
Uncertainty scares me, but it’s not unfamiliar to me. I’ve tried to take some steps to make my future feel less uncertain and more stable, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not still willing to step out of my comfort zone. I’m willing to risk a lot! Honestly if I got a really great opportunity I would drop everything and move to another country if needed.
When facing challenges, do you persevere or do you walk away?
I usually persevere, unless it’s some bullshit. Whether it’s a challenging role or task, I usually step up and put in the work. But if the challenge is to deal with pettiness, tomfoolery, divas, or challenging personalities, I’ll put up with it, but I’m likely not to return to the situation.
What experience have you learned the most from?
After auditioning for 3 universities back to back, I returned to Jacksonville to compete in a Shakespeare competition. I had memorized the monologue months prior, but I memorized the poem the night before on the plane. When it came time to perform in front of the judges, I blanked on the last couplet of my sonnet, and called for line. What I didn’t know, was that disqualified me from the competition.
I sobbed on the car ride home, because honestly, I thought I did great, better than all the other people in the room (17 year old Isabella was kind of full of herself, she’s been humbled since then). In an effort to prepare for my college auditions, I had forgotten about this competition and showed up underprepared. I missed out on the opportunity to perform in New York City on the Lincoln Center stage. That day I learned two things:
- Always show up prepared.
- Don’t take on more than you can handle.
What actions are you taking to realize your vision? Are you consistently taking action?
I am continuing in my studies, maintaining my connections in community and professional theatre here in Jacksonville and in Atlanta, and attending theatre conferences to further expand my training and connections.
What is your plan to continually grow and evolve? How have you grown or evolved in the past year or three?
My plan is to keep trying to expand my talents. I started college as a singer and actress, and in the past year I’ve produced some music, filmed a couple of music videos, and began writing a play. I’m not saying I’m an expert in any of these fields, but I definitely think that venturing into different aspects of theatre/music will make me overall a better artist.
How easy is it for you to reach out to others to ask for support and to offer help?
I think I offer help a lot more than I ask for it. I’m trying to reach out to people more. I have a few big projects coming up that are going to require me reaching out to others for help.
How are you inspiring others to join and/or support your mission in order to create a financially sustainable enterprise that allows you to live your gift and contribute something valuable to society? – If you aren’t currently, how do you intend to?
I’m not currently doing this, but I do hope to create something like that. I got accepted to an apprenticeship at Teatro Aurora which is a subsect of the Aurora Theatre. Hopefully in my time there I can help expand programming enough to get shows onto the mainstage (instead of the black box where they currently reside).
Kelly Wolfe – Networking Assignment
So for this networking experience, I was a tad nervous. I’m an introvert who can also become an extrovert in certain situations. I didn’t really prepare for this only because I wasn’t too sure that I had to prepare for this event. My goal was to talk to a few of the visual art students. It may be sad to say but following Angelika around was really helpful because I was able to dovetail into her conversations. I think the biggest thing I learned from this experience was the fact that I wasn’t the only one who was confused about what some of the pieces were about. But other than those two girls I talked to, the others were students from this class that I don’t normally talk to.
I don’t really know what I could do differently to talk to visual artists in this type of setting. I feel like auditions are types of events that I feel better suited for me to network at. For example, I auditioned at Disney on Monday and was able to network very easily. I feel like this may be so because we all shared a common interest and common goal of getting hired by the Mouse. I walked into that audition not knowing anyone and was able to walk out with 4 new friends. It’s interesting to see how a simple change in surroundings can change how someone like me is able to network with other people.
Kelly Wolfe – Learning Journal
· I believe I have several unique gifts. The first being the fact that I have an interesting look which can lend itself to either a youthful character or even a mature adult. I also have the type of look that can translate across different types of media such as stage and the screen (big or small). I believe I have enough to invest everything I have into it because it is innately within me.
· The difference I’m trying to make in the world is to bring professionalism and kindness into all that I do. I feel if I go above and beyond in whatever I do, it will only effect the world in a positive way. I am very passionate about doing this. It will hopefully cause a ripple within the field so that others can share the kindness and professionalism.
· As of right now, I would define success as being able to go into an audition and be able to feel great about what I did in the audition room. I think something that I have to face in order to create this success would be the anxiety that all actors have about not being good enough or not being what the directors are looking for.
· My career vision/mission would include working my way up from equity theatres or even an amusement park setting. I would use these employers as stepping stones to network and grow the fund to make the move to NYC. My end goal is to originate a role on Broadway.
· I believe I have a positive attitude towards a handful of things but I should really work on being more positive about my career. I feel like it’s holding me back when I am negative about how an audition went or how I sound.
· I feel like I have my goals set but it’s really hard to create a solid road map to follow to reach that dream. I feel this way because it all just depends on what opportunities I can get and even what connections I make.
· At this point, I have a few people who I can trust to help me actualize my vision. They give me insight into how to reach my dream and even tips/tricks that can be useful for me once I graduate.
· My priorities as of now are to make sure I have a job once I graduate from college. I really want to start putting my degree to use as soon as I get it in my hand. And to make sure this priority is set, I have been auditioning or at least plan for auditions in the near future.
· I am looking for opportunities that will help me make connections but also ones that will help my career grow in an upward fashion. As I said for setting priorities, I have been auditioning or at least plan for auditions in the near future.
· I have to be comfortable with uncertainty as an actress because there could be several reasons why I may not book the gig. I could either not be the right fit or it could come down to a scheduling issue. I risk not making money regularly as I do now and I also run the risk of my hair turning grey from the stress.
· I feel like it depends on the challenge but more times than not, I persevere when I’m faced with challenges. If it feels like it is impossible, I reach out to a professor who may have faced this in their lifetime.
· I feel like I have learned the most from just actively going to auditions. There are just somethings you can’t learn in a class setting.
· To make sure I realize my vision, I am always keeping my eyes and ears open to the auditions that may be a perfect fit for me. And when I hear about these certain auditions, I make sure to do all that’s in my power to show up at these specific auditions.
· I believe to continually grow and evolve, I have to make sure I’m keeping myself open to do so. I try and pick up things that I see and hear in the professional world. I have definitely evolved in my past 3 years at JU and cannot even imagine where I will be in another 3 years.
· I find it very easy to reach out to others for support and to offer help.
· I don’t think I’m really inspiring people to join and/or support my mission. I feel like I have friends and family who are supporting me but I feel as though that is the extent of inspiring others.
Art Gallery Experience
The art gallery opening was a great experience. I met eight people I had never spoke to before, 3 of the people I spoke to were art majors at Jacksonville University, 2 were graphic design majors, 1 was a nursing major and the 2 were the artist of the exhibits.
The exhibit had overall two main themes, punk rock/ suburbia type style and a variety of different/unusual visual diagrams to portrait different parts of a human-cow combo. The art in they gallery was very intriguing to look at, as I found, everytime I looked at the same piece of art I would see something different. The pieces were interpreted differently by every person I talked to; they would see something I wouldn’t.
The first two art majors I spoke helped set up the exhibit. They Informed me that the movement of the art itself was very stressful and they had to be very cautious while setting it up. The did not really know the meaning behind the exhibit, although they had very interesting insights. The person I enjoyed talking to the most was Haley, Haley was a former Interior Design Major but later switched over to Nursing. Her takes on the art were the most unique and diverse from anyone I talked to. She pointed out to me that there were different cow pieces (Horns, Stomach, etc. ) on the sculptures that we we’re looking at. She thought that maybe this implied the decomposing of a cow but for human digestion.
The last two people I spoke with where the artist themselves. The descriptions of their art where incredible, and after speaking with them it felt as though it all feel into places. I understood why there were cow diagram parts mushed together with human diagram parts. He said growing up he really enjoyed organizing things by color, and diagrams really stuck out to him. He also explained to us that a lot of his models were inspired by his own body parts (like his legs). The other artist was also very interesting to talk to. He told us his complete inspiration for his art. He told us about how he grew up in the 80’s and was influenced by punk-rock. He later went on to tell us that, punk rock was “glossed over”, and made easier to look at the older he got. This was his whole inspiration for the pieces he worked on in the gallery.
Overall the experience was great. I saw great artwork, met nice people, and had a great time. The artist were very inspiring, as they work diligently and effectively to have it displayed in the Brest Gallery.
