In This Issue:
Featured Feminists Eileen Hope Tran and Mattie Limas
Get Involved with Student Reps and Theatre Threshold
Back-to-school advice columns:
Rory
Rachel
Victoria
Featured Feminists
Meet our new team members!
Mattie Limas: Member at Large
My name is Mattie Limas, pronouns are they/them. It is currently my second year as a member of SATA and first year as a member of Feminist Theatre Makers. I think with feminism, as the old saying goes, the personal is the political. Feminism has always meant liberation to me as a BIPOC non-binary person because intersectional feminism addresses the ways in which all axes of oppression are linked and therefore cannot be singled out. By accepting the proliferation of gender as well as the presence of non-gendered people, we can move toward a culture that does not allow the gender binary to legitimise women being regarded as lesser than men, and furthermore, any human to be considered innately inferior to another. Eileen Hope Tran: Head of Marketing
Having spent most of her life in the Bay Area, Eileen Hope Tran decided to take the big leap in moving down to Southern California back in 2017 to pursue her BA in Theatre Performance with a Minor in Dance. Eileen will be going into her final year of university this upcoming 2020-2021 school year, in the hopes of graduating and setting out to achieve her goals of becoming a well-known Asian film actress. She first set out on her exploration of feminism and what it means to be a feminist back in a Feminism Club in her high school, when she hadn't known that she had already identified as a Feminist all along. Eileen seeks to create a space in which Asian actresses like herself are able to go to the theatre or turn on the TV, and see people that look like them sharing and recreating stories that they can personally relate to themselves as fellow Asian creators. She aims to raise awareness and rid our world of the oppression of each marginalized group one step at a time, including, but not limited to, fighting for the implementation of more accurate portrayals of Asian female representation in media and entertainment.
Want to get more involved in the community side of the department?
Check out these other student organizations' websites to get updates on upcoming events, learn more about theater student life at Long Beach, and get connected to other students in the department.
Advice for Incoming Students
As you already know, the CSU system has gone completely online for the fall semester of 2020. When I learned of this, in a way, I was relieved, because to open a college in our current health crisis puts far too many students, faculty, staff, and community lives in danger. But online learning, especially in such a hands-on discipline as theatre, is tough. “Zoom fatigue” is real. However, I am most looking forward to seeing everyone’s faces, new and familiar, even if it is only through a square on my laptop screen.
This new reality has the potential to breed new projects, even if they weren’t the ones we initially pictured.
In a time of isolation and social unrest, making and keeping connections is vital to our survival and our morale. CSULB Theatre Arts has several student organizations, including Feminist Theatre Makers, who are working to make sure first-time CSULB students feel welcome in our department, despite the distance. We have an upcoming Theatre Threshold podcast season, SATA’s new peer mentorship program, and blog writing/documentary theatre devising with Feminist Theatre Makers. We hope that our various student-led organizations’ activities will enable you to feel included, safe, and creative. All of our student leaders are excited to meet the new students. While it will be a unique and difficult semester, we are hoping to provide all students with the resources and information they need to feel at home in this department, both during and after the pandemic.
-Rory Smith (@rorysmit)
My first semester in the CSULB theatre department, I was full of shock and awe at the amount of stuff going on within this tiny subset of the school. All of the auditions, student orgs, and department events were overwhelming at first, but it was my willingness to get involved in these very things that helped me find my place in the vastness of university life. I may not have been cast in anything until the spring semester, but I showed up to every audition call, I did tech for multiple shows, and I started to make connections. The more auditions I went to, the more shows I was a part of. The more events I went to, the more friends I made. The more I got my face and my name out there, the better my reputation became.
As I began to invest more of myself into the department, more and more opportunities kept coming out of the woodworks.
My second semester, I was playing a role in a mainstage production and, with only a little over a semester of formal training under my belt, I felt out of my element acting next to my slightly more educated peers. I lacked a certain trust in myself, even though I had gotten myself to this level all on my own. I called my dad for support and in response he gifted me with two words of the best advice I've ever been given, which I will now give to you: Dive in.
Now, more than ever, it's time to dive in. Meet the adversity head on. If you put in the work, you will have the power. Ask for the kind of education you want; you are entitled to it. Be the first one in the studio, the first to volunteer, the first to step up and meet the challenge. Your college experience is what you make it. So don't be shy, dive in.
-Rachel Post (@the_out_post)
Something I wish I had known as a first or second year:
I’m now entering my senior year of college and there are so many resources and classes that I’m grasping at; ones that always existed but I just never knew.
For one, there’s the Student Health Services. Just last semester, I visited the University Clinic which offers free appointments to students. There is Online Therapy Counseling now available through CAPS. And did you know our Campus offered Free Advisory to DACA Students? They have administrators who specialize in assisting Dreamers with their applications, questions, etc. Or how about the Beach Pantry which I barely found out about a year ago? Oh, and when the Recreational Center was open, who knew you could register for Personalized Trainers and Zumba Classes?
Or my favorite part: did you know that you could reserve most of your required textbooks (for free) through the CSULB Library? I worked there my first year. I’m sure there is much more that will be offered virtually this Fall so stick around while I also continue to learn what’s available to us. Shameless plug to the SATA IG Account: @csulbsatarep !
Apart from what’s available to us, you may be asking yourself: “Where do I belong?”
Everyone’s journey will be different as far as finding their friend groups or adjusting to online classes. My biggest advice for the Theatre Arts Department Incoming Student Body: Get Involved. As much as you can of course. And not just with what the Department offers you either. Get involved with other Departments and Areas of CSULB. Venture outside of CSULB too. Start working up your career now, as much as you’re able to. Make connections, friendships; these are the folk who will be in the entertainment field in the future. Look into creating your own content. Especially for BIPOC folk; unfortunately this system was never made to tell our stories rightfully.
We have to be careful who we surround ourselves with and make sure we have a great support system that encourages us to continue telling our stories.
There is so much more, I’m going to throw in a last one, between us: RateMyProfessor is actually a really reliable site for determining which Professor to take. It saved me from many Bad Experiences and I would highly recommend it. To any incoming students who read until the end: I wish you the best, you’ve got this, and if you ever don’t got this, find me on Instagram.
Always here for my LB Theater folk, para siempre.
-Victoria Camey (@thevictoriouslife)
From Instagram:
"Ask for help"
"Don't be afraid to protect and disclose boundaries in the classroom"
"Don't take Directing and Community Engagement at the same time."
"Don't be afraid to talk to someone or try something new!"
Stay Tuned
On September 15th, tune into the Theatre Threshold Podcast for a special episode hosted by Feminist Theatre Makers! Details coming soon.
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