The Student News Site of Shawnee Mission Northwest

SMNW

The Student News Site of Shawnee Mission Northwest

SMNW

The Student News Site of Shawnee Mission Northwest

SMNW

No Answer

No Answer

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Rats with Wings

Rats with Wings

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Everything’s An Aesthetic

Everything’s An Aesthetic

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Meet your Match

Meet your Match

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Anything But This

Anything But This

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Forks Down: Aoyama Ramen

Forks Down: Aoyama Ramen

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Don’t cry over spilt applesauce

Don’t cry over spilt applesauce

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Patchy Yet Perfect

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Embrace

Embrace

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Influential Seniors: Hailey Esch [video]

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How did being involved in theater change you?
It made me realize how different people can be, because you have to be a completely different person when you are acting; you can’t be yourself. It made me realize that this particular character might not think the same way I think, so it’s hard. You have to try to create a new person.

How do you feel onstage?
Everything is rushing in your head. It is almost so much that you forget the audience is there, but you don’t quite because you can see them a little bit. I feel this great energy to do everything right. For me this year, it really transitioned from thinking about the audience to thinking about my character. That really helps with not messing up.

Why theater?
I started my freshman year. I was not planning to do it at all. I was doing gymnastics and then two seniors, Sean Hinckle and Douglas Wooldrige, asked me to do it. So, I quit gymnastics and did Guys and Dolls. It was so much fun, beyond what I thought it would be, and I made so many friends.

What is your favorite show you have been in?
Probably Once Upon a Mattress. It was my senior year, and I got a lead role. That was my first time ever getting a lead role, and I was so excited. Once I found out what the character was like, I got really excited because she is a lot like me. I didn’t have to act that much; I just had to have fun on stage.

Why do you want to study music education in college?
I want to do elementary music education specifically because I love kids and I love music, so the combination kind of fits. I have a feeling that might not work out, which really scares me, because I want to be happy in whatever I do. I am hoping I will be, but if it doesn’t, we’ll see. I know I actually should be thinking about it right now, because it is my future plans, but it scares me to death to try to think that far ahead, because I don’t know what I’ll feel like in a couple of years. I could be a completely different person.

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Influential Seniors: Hailey Esch [video]