Sports, cooking, reading, drawing, there are plenty of healthy outlets for our emotions these days. Extracurriculars, activities outside of school and home life, they are necessary for any growing child or adolescent. Even more so for those in the foster system, in fact I find it to be absolutely crucial. One activity that I simply must talk up is the extraordinarily freeing world of theater! Extracurriculars like basketball, marching band, or even being involved in clubs are all wonderful options, and your foster/adoptive child should be able to make their own decision as to which activity they partake in based on their personal interests.
This article is solely based on my personal experience as a foster/adoptive child becoming heavily involved in musical theater and just how positively it affected me, and how positively I believe it can affect any youth in the system who enjoys anything from acting to singing, directing to dancing, writing, tech work.. anything that has to do with the theater and making the magic that happens on stage a possibility!
Allowing foster children to explore their options and dabble in as many activities as they please is, in my opinion, an absolute must. They may not be fully aware of their talents and abilities, or even what sparks their interest. Growing up, my main concern was always how my mother was doing; was she sick, was she happy, was she awake, was she sleeping, why isn’t she home, etc. This was my primary focus from my youngest years all throughout the time I spent in and out of foster care. When I found out I wasn’t going to go back with my mother, a question presented itself; “what do I want to do?”. I was surprised at the fact that I had never given any thought to what I truly enjoyed.
My freshman year in highschool I was placed in “Mixed Chorus”, which consisted of about ten or less students who enjoyed singing probably as much as they enjoyed detention. I on the other hand enjoyed it thoroughly; I was constantly auditioning for little solos and trying to improve my singing voice. One day the choir director came up to me and suggested I join the school’s show choir. I had never even heard of show choir, but I knew I loved to sing. I couldn’t dance, my voice wasn’t the strongest, and the only time I had ever performed on stage I was an elf, and seven years old. The biggest reason out of them all, however, was that I had little to no faith in myself and thought that I was not good enough to be involved in a program overflowing with so many talented individuals. I was extremely hesitant, and terrified to say the least.. but I thought to myself “I love to sing, I suppose there’s no harm in trying” and I decided to join my high school’s show choir.
Deciding to join show choir was the best decision I could have made for myself, I ended up becoming heavily involved in this program all throughout my entire highschool career. Some of my most precious memories are from the times I spent at practices, dance rehearsals, auditions, and competitions. My confidence slowly began to grow and blossom as I continued to push myself to audition for solo after solo and various dance ensembles, even if my face grew red and my legs were shaky. Soon enough that feeling went away, and I pushed myself to keep trying. Not getting a solo would cause my brain to run to that “not good enough” area quite often, but finally receiving a solo or a place in front in a dance number was far more rewarding and sweet knowing how difficult it truly was to get to that place. It presented opportunities that forced you to work hard for something that you love, which is an extraordinary and necessary thing to practice, especially for a person with a “not good enough, can’t do it” mindset.
I can not even begin to tell you how many hours I spent singing over and over and over in my bedroom, pushing myself to strengthen my voice and attempt to widen my range more and more. Show choir pushed me to better myself in an area that I loved dearly, and continuously grow more and more passionate about. One major thing I had to learn being involved in this new world was how to not take everything that wasn’t a compliment or sugar coated so personally. Being involved in the dry, cut throat world of musical theater with a proud-to-be-harsh, extremely skilled and experienced choir director and a handful of theater-snobs mixed with a handful of talented, humble individuals helped me accomplish this as well as causing my confidence to grow, my mind to become more able to separate emotions from “work” and not take everything so personally, and it helped me acquire the ability to persevere and keep moving forward; never quit. These are all qualities I already had in my heart, however show choir helped strengthen them and teach me how to fully use them to my personal benefit. For that I am forever grateful.
Life on stage was the most magical part of this program, obviously. Allow me to tell you why I choose the word “magic” over say “rewarding” or “empowering”. Having a program or sport or club to direct the majority of your time, energy, and attention to is important and very helpful in learning more about yourself and providing a fun, healthy “escape” for foster youth struggling with their past and coping with their home life.
However, the escape being involved in theater provides is far deeper and much more complex and freeing than simply having something to take your mind off of reality for a brief amount of time. Being up on that stage..looking out at the audience, the lights shining on you as you sing and act..it’s a remarkable feeling. Though, there is not a single thing that could compare to the feeling you get from stepping completely outside of your mindset, personality, and life to completely become the character you are portraying. You are given a free ticket to completely leave your pain, worries, and heartache and become this extraordinary new character.. and often in attempting to portray the character’s personality, mindset, emotions, and reacting the way your character would to whatever situations begin to present themselves.. you are able to fully relate to another person experiencing heartache. Being given the opportunity to quite literally step into someone else’s shoes and act out someone else’s situation, and act out their journey and how they conquered their pain and troubles, it’s one of the most encouraging, therapeutic, and powerful things a young, broken heart can involve themselves in. For me personally, there were certain songs or acts that would really hit home and trigger so much emotion that it was almost like through singing and acting I was able to express what was going on in my heart without having to actually find the words to correctly articulate it, which often seemed to be quite impossible. It was one of the most healing experiences I have ever partaken in, and it has done wonders for my heart. What being involved in musical theater did for me, was absolutely magical indeed.
I can not stress enough the immense necessity being involved in extracurricular activities is for youth in the foster system. Being given a chance to explore the world of joy outside of their constant world of pain, being able to discover more about themselves and strengthen the skills they may have been unaware they even had, it’s unbelievably important. So Godspeed, foster/adoptive parents and youth! Go explore, and “break a leg”!
Musicals that are fun, encouraging, and have touched my heart:
- Matilda
- Annie
- Rent
- Moulin Rouge
- Les Miserables (not as fun as the others, however the amount of emotion involved in this musical is absolutely extraordinary and easily relatable to those who hold a lot of pain in their hearts)
Owner/Editor - Chris Chmielewski