On September 21, I crowded into Emens Auditorium with tons of other people to watch best-selling author Jeannette Walls speak about her book The Glass Castle, which all of the freshmen read (or were supposed to read) over this past summer. While she did recount some events from her book, Walls spent most of her time discussing lessons she has learned and experiences she has had since the publication of her book. She shared how her story has touched the lives of others and how this has in turn touched her. She discussed her mother, citing her reaction to Jeannette's book and her intense optimism that shines through in any situation, from living under a bridge to falling off a horse. She also discussed her father quite a bit, which I had always felt was the most sensitive topic from Jeannette's entire story. I'd place him mostly responsible for much of the hardships that the Walls family faced, and yet he had a profound effect on the way Jeannette thinks. In his drunken stupor, he gave her much wisdom. She cited the example of the night when she was four years old and she thought there was a monster under her bed. With knife and wrench in hands, Jeannette and her father searched and searched for the monster. Finally, Rex sat his daughter down and told her that it must have been the demon that has been chasing him for much of his life, and that this demon likes to scare people so Jeannette should show it that she's not scared. Jeannette told the audience that what her father was trying to tell her here was something she should have grasped long ago because it would have kept her from being ashamed of her past for so long. Rex Walls was saying that everyone has demons, but everyone must learn to confront these demons and be unafraid. This is how the demons are conquered. I think that the part of Jeanette's speech that moved me the most was when she began talking about her father and the concept of the glass castle after which she named her book. Even when Jeannette and her family were roaming from place to place like nomads, Rex Walls always carried the blue prints of his "glass castle" with him. The castle was a house made of glass that Rex Walls had drawn up and told his children that he would one day build in the desert. To build this house, he told them, he first had to "hit it big", meaning he had to get enough money to get the materials. Whether Rex Walls ever actually intended to build the castle I cannot say. Jeannette explicated that to her and her siblings and even to her father, the castle was a symbol of hope. It represented a better future for her and her family. When one student asked if Walls had ever considered actually building the glass castle now that she had the money, Jeannette gave a response that really moved me and I'm sure the rest of the audience as well. She said that the original blueprints for the house have long been lost. She said that she has received many sets of blueprints from architecture students, showing the castle how they'd imagine it. She then stated that she has never considered physically having it built because she feels that it has already been built. The better future that the glass castle embodied has been fulfilled for the Walls children, so together, they made the castle.
Overall, I found that Jeannette's speech had a very heavy impact on myself and all those who listened. Her words were truly inspiring and motivational, and it was clear that she has a very good heart despite all that she went through in her childhood. It was also clear that she had learned a lot from the diverse experiences of her life and that she deeply cares about influencing others who are in similar situations to the one she faced and that she wants to show them that if they keep pushing forward, there can be a better, brighter glass castle for them as well.
Event #2: The Circus in Winter at the University Theatre
On Friday, October 7, I saw the performance of The Circus in Winter. It was an absolutely superb show. I was unsure of what to expect coming into the show because of the fact that the show was completely written and created by students. I was afraid I'd be disappointed or see flaws in the show. Afterward, I felt pretty stupid for underestimating the show so greatly. Everything, especially the choreography and the music, made me feel as though I was watching a show on Broadway. The acting was fantastic. The harmony and singing were outstanding. I was definitely highly impressed with the production the students had managed to put on. I was also blown away by the story though. The story is centered on Wallace Porter, who begins as a workaholic in his small town of Lima, Indiana, and follows his great personal transformation. He falls in love with a New York girl named Irene, who he meets at a circus. He marries her and brings her to his home town to live the life she's always wanted. She soon falls gravely ill and dies, and in her death, she speaks to Wallace and tells him to follow the elephant from that circus where they met. Wallace buys the circus, which is almost out of business, and fixes it up, falling for Jenny Dixiana, one of the circus performers, in the progress. Tragedy strikes one night, however, when the elephant keeper provokes the elephant. The elephant runs wild and is killed in order to keep it from destroying the town. Rain pours from the sky, flooding the town, as the elephant keeper and Jenny both die. Wallace begins to lose hope, but then realizes that Jenny and Irene would not have wanted him to give up, so he builds the circus back up and devotes the rest of his life to it. I found the story very inspiring. Even though Irene, Jenny, and the elephant--everything Wallace loves--all die, Wallace still somehow finds the strength and will to get his life on the path it's meant to be on. I'm not sure that I would be able to overcome those kinds of hardships and live the happy, successful life that Wallace lives. His actions show that he is a strong, resilient man. One thing that I liked about the musical was that Irene appeared many times after her death. She could often be seen standing up above Wallace, holding a lantern and watching over him. It was a very nice effect for the story because Wallace loved her very much and she was the reason that he bought the circus in the first place. The thing that sucked in my emotions the most in this musical was the side story with Jenny and the elephant keeper, Jack. Jack was a drunk and he was guilty of multiple types of abuse on Jenny. His anger and the things he would say would really just get me going because I felt like he was just a dirty, no-good alcoholic and I wanted him to get what he deserved. I suppose the story was probably written to make the audience feel that way, and if it was, the writers certainly achieved their effect. I found myself hoping that Wallace might tell him how revolting he was, but even though that never happened, I still felt okay when the play ended. I think this is because Jack died as a result of someone saving Jenny from his abuse. I was rather unhappy with the fact that Jenny killed herself because of Jack’s death. She always said how horrible he was, but then she went and killed herself over him. I can only suppose that she must have felt love for him like the love Wallace felt for Irene. The musical The Circus in Winter is a show filled with love, action, and inspiration, and I certainly loved it and would recommend it to anyone.
On September 21, I crowded into Emens Auditorium with tons of other people to watch best-selling author Jeannette Walls speak about her book The Glass Castle, which all of the freshmen read (or were supposed to read) over this past summer. While she did recount some events from her book, Walls spent most of her time discussing lessons she has learned and experiences she has had since the publication of her book. She shared how her story has touched the lives of others and how this has in turn touched her. She discussed her mother, citing her reaction to Jeannette's book and her intense optimism that shines through in any situation, from living under a bridge to falling off a horse. She also discussed her father quite a bit, which I had always felt was the most sensitive topic from Jeannette's entire story. I'd place him mostly responsible for much of the hardships that the Walls family faced, and yet he had a profound effect on the way Jeannette thinks. In his drunken stupor, he gave her much wisdom. She cited the example of the night when she was four years old and she thought there was a monster under her bed. With knife and wrench in hands, Jeannette and her father searched and searched for the monster. Finally, Rex sat his daughter down and told her that it must have been the demon that has been chasing him for much of his life, and that this demon likes to scare people so Jeannette should show it that she's not scared. Jeannette told the audience that what her father was trying to tell her here was something she should have grasped long ago because it would have kept her from being ashamed of her past for so long. Rex Walls was saying that everyone has demons, but everyone must learn to confront these demons and be unafraid. This is how the demons are conquered. I think that the part of Jeanette's speech that moved me the most was when she began talking about her father and the concept of the glass castle after which she named her book. Even when Jeannette and her family were roaming from place to place like nomads, Rex Walls always carried the blue prints of his "glass castle" with him. The castle was a house made of glass that Rex Walls had drawn up and told his children that he would one day build in the desert. To build this house, he told them, he first had to "hit it big", meaning he had to get enough money to get the materials. Whether Rex Walls ever actually intended to build the castle I cannot say. Jeannette explicated that to her and her siblings and even to her father, the castle was a symbol of hope. It represented a better future for her and her family. When one student asked if Walls had ever considered actually building the glass castle now that she had the money, Jeannette gave a response that really moved me and I'm sure the rest of the audience as well. She said that the original blueprints for the house have long been lost. She said that she has received many sets of blueprints from architecture students, showing the castle how they'd imagine it. She then stated that she has never considered physically having it built because she feels that it has already been built. The better future that the glass castle embodied has been fulfilled for the Walls children, so together, they made the castle.
Overall, I found that Jeannette's speech had a very heavy impact on myself and all those who listened. Her words were truly inspiring and motivational, and it was clear that she has a very good heart despite all that she went through in her childhood. It was also clear that she had learned a lot from the diverse experiences of her life and that she deeply cares about influencing others who are in similar situations to the one she faced and that she wants to show them that if they keep pushing forward, there can be a better, brighter glass castle for them as well.
Event #2: The Circus in Winter at the University Theatre
On Friday, October 7, I saw the performance of The Circus in Winter. It was an absolutely superb show. I was unsure of what to expect coming into the show because of the fact that the show was completely written and created by students. I was afraid I'd be disappointed or see flaws in the show. Afterward, I felt pretty stupid for underestimating the show so greatly. Everything, especially the choreography and the music, made me feel as though I was watching a show on Broadway. The acting was fantastic. The harmony and singing were outstanding. I was definitely highly impressed with the production the students had managed to put on. I was also blown away by the story though. The story is centered on Wallace Porter, who begins as a workaholic in his small town of Lima, Indiana, and follows his great personal transformation. He falls in love with a New York girl named Irene, who he meets at a circus. He marries her and brings her to his home town to live the life she's always wanted. She soon falls gravely ill and dies, and in her death, she speaks to Wallace and tells him to follow the elephant from that circus where they met. Wallace buys the circus, which is almost out of business, and fixes it up, falling for Jenny Dixiana, one of the circus performers, in the progress. Tragedy strikes one night, however, when the elephant keeper provokes the elephant. The elephant runs wild and is killed in order to keep it from destroying the town. Rain pours from the sky, flooding the town, as the elephant keeper and Jenny both die. Wallace begins to lose hope, but then realizes that Jenny and Irene would not have wanted him to give up, so he builds the circus back up and devotes the rest of his life to it. I found the story very inspiring. Even though Irene, Jenny, and the elephant--everything Wallace loves--all die, Wallace still somehow finds the strength and will to get his life on the path it's meant to be on. I'm not sure that I would be able to overcome those kinds of hardships and live the happy, successful life that Wallace lives. His actions show that he is a strong, resilient man. One thing that I liked about the musical was that Irene appeared many times after her death. She could often be seen standing up above Wallace, holding a lantern and watching over him. It was a very nice effect for the story because Wallace loved her very much and she was the reason that he bought the circus in the first place.
The thing that sucked in my emotions the most in this musical was the side story with Jenny and the elephant keeper, Jack. Jack was a drunk and he was guilty of multiple types of abuse on Jenny. His anger and the things he would say would really just get me going because I felt like he was just a dirty, no-good alcoholic and I wanted him to get what he deserved. I suppose the story was probably written to make the audience feel that way, and if it was, the writers certainly achieved their effect. I found myself hoping that Wallace might tell him how revolting he was, but even though that never happened, I still felt okay when the play ended. I think this is because Jack died as a result of someone saving Jenny from his abuse. I was rather unhappy with the fact that Jenny killed herself because of Jack’s death. She always said how horrible he was, but then she went and killed herself over him. I can only suppose that she must have felt love for him like the love Wallace felt for Irene. The musical The Circus in Winter is a show filled with love, action, and inspiration, and I certainly loved it and would recommend it to anyone.