>> I would say that my favorite thing about teaching is seeing them come alive.
That's what it's about.
Acting is about coming to life on a stage.
And when that really happens, it's exciting for them but it's really exciting for me.
I mean, sometimes I'm at the tip of my seat going, yes!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Just before the pandemic, I was cast in a play that was going to be so wonderful.
And it was in a really cool theater, and then of course everything collapsed.
And during the like 14 months out of it, I really lost my confidence,
my mojo, whatever you want to call it.
I didn't think I could do it anymore.
And someone that I knew previously was doing a production of "The Tempest," and I decided,
well, you know, maybe this will be my way back in.
And it was horrible for the first couple of weeks.
I was -- I didn't know what to do anymore.
I had forgotten -- all my muscle memory for memorizing lines
and remembering what to do, it just went.
But two directors and a cast that was so incredible, mostly really young people who were
like the best college-age actors you could imagine, and it turned into a really good show.
LGBTQ Month is a reminder, a reminder of how far we've come,
a reminder of how far we have to go still.
When I was young, I did not have a lot of trouble at that time coming out
but a lot of people did back then.
They do still now somewhat.
But it's so much more open.
But what I've seen since I've been
at this school is the openness has been there the whole time.
This university, first of all, has the kindest people in it.
And from the very beginning, there has been support.
Our professors in the department are excellent.
All the staff who make things happen, like the costumes
and the sound and everything, it's amazing!
This is a place where people are learning new things completely.
You just -- you don't stop.
You have to keep getting richer and richer in your own art
if you're going to, you know, talk to students.
[ Music, We Define the Future, CSUSB]