I’m Sam, and I come from a small East Texas town where the arts were nothing more than a school elective for those not cut out for sports. No one in my family was involved in the arts and the little exposure I received was in educational settings. Yet, for as long as I can remember I wanted to be an actor. I would sit in front of the television watching sitcoms, begging my mom to rent the same VHS of Clue, over and over again, until I could recite every word. While other kids were outside playing pretend, I was nose to the screen studying it (which was without a doubt the main contributor to my need for glasses today).
Upon entering high school, I tried my hand at tennis, because that seemed like the safest sport, and I was averse to injury. I also chose to take a theatre class and try out for a play. Spoiler alert, I was not cast. A couple of months later I saw the Drama Club’s production of Neil Simon’s Rumors. I was blown away. The kids onstage were living out situations like I’d seen in those sitcoms I was so often lost in. I was hooked, and tennis was out.
Fast forward over two decades, I now hold a BFA in Musical Theatre; have worked as a professional actor and director; and even spent four years teaching high school theatre and beaming with joy as I watched young artists find their passion and hone their skills like I once had. However, through all of this I felt I was missing an important element, a strong professional support system. Without this, I struggled to find my footing in the theatre community and eventually transitioned into administrative roles in education.
My husband and I moved to Madison in 2022. He was starting his Doctoral of Musical Arts degree at UW-Madison, and I found another admin job on campus. He ended up selecting arts administration as his minor and in the evenings, while he was doing his homework, I would always ask him what he was working on. He would tell me about this assignment for Arts Entrepreneurship or that assignment for Arts Seminar. I found myself with that “sitcom feeling” again. I wanted to do that. Now, two years later, I find myself in the Bolz Center for Arts Administration, days away from graduating.
Over the past 9 months, I have filled in gaps from my lived professional experiences. I have been able to take learned concepts and apply them to the work I have been doing with Madison Theatre Guild, an organization that welcomed and embraced me, allowing me to have an artistic outlet again. I have been given new tools and confidence to go after my goal of being the artistic director of a theatre company. And yes, I got to do all those same assignments myself!
Now you are probably saying, that’s all well and good, Sam, but what about the redwood trees mentioned in the title of this blog post? Well friends, did you know that redwoods grow in groves? And more importantly, do you know why? Their roots grow outward embracing one another, providing shared resources and helping stabilize each other. Returning to school was a scary jump, but one I cannot imagine having passed on. There are so many things that I will carry with me from this experience, but what I am most grateful for is having been surrounded and supported by the most kind and endearing group of people this past year. I have discovered that as a Bolzie, failure is not an option, not because it is not permitted but because this group of people have grown their roots outward and made it impossible. I finally have my support system, my redwood grove, and it is pretty amazing!