Julia Gaudioso

I feel as though my unique knowledge of theatre, my natural ability as a leader, and my potential to grow within this community makes me an ideal candidate for upholding, and even exceeding, the goals of this task force. As a Peer Leader for the 2020-2021 school year, I actively work with performing arts students in my assigned LINK 101 class every Monday night. I assist my instructor by talking about my experiences at Marymount and what has worked for me so far. I give tips on how to best manage your time as a student, what their homework schedule should look like, and most importantly, how to build their own community here at Marymount. Despite being virtual, I still wanted to be a peer leader because of this aspect. I want to eventually work in higher education, so this position is incredible exposure to work with students who are looking to make their college career as successful as possible. I am more than comfortable speaking in front of people, and being able to help people genuinely makes me happy. Additionally, I believe my ability to communicate through emails and meetings is exactly what this council needs. As the Secretary of the Clubs and Activities Board, I must record minutes every meeting, send out reminders for our weekly meetings, and manage the CAB email (responding to students, faculty, regulate the email list, etc). While this is a more specific and monotonous skill, it is crucial that each successful council has great e-communication. Aside from my experience within the tactical work, I believe my own perspective on theatre can assist to diversify the department at Marymount. As a person of color (Indian and Sicilian), I struggled finding scenes and monologues in Acting Class that I felt represented me and were approved by MMC. There is simply not enough representation within the “Play List” here at Marymount. There are very few Playwrights of color, let alone biracial. As also a part of the LGBTQ+ community, I can say that there is not enough representation within the Queer community of that list either. In order for Marymount to stay true to their mission statement as a college, this needs to be changed. For everyone to be represented in class (through monologues, scenes they do), we need to make change to the repertoire that Marymount defines as “usable.” I believe that this council make these changes, and if I am elected for a position, that is the first thing I will fight for the department to revise.

In my two years at Marymount, I have been able to develop close relationships with my professors and peers, allowing me to gain an impressive amount of experience within the Theatre Arts department. Last year, I was assigned to be an assistant director of the playwriting projects in J-Term. I was quickly promoted to co-direct with Brooke Haney along my side as a mentor. I gained an immense amount knowledge on the directing process, as well as a passion of working on new plays. This eventually led me to sign up to Stage Manage a play writing project in the Spring, and even when we eventually moved online, I stayed heavily involved as the Assistant Stage Manager throughout the entire production. It was quite possibly the hardest thing I had ever done throughout my theatre career, but it was by far the most rewarding. Leading up to that point, I had only ever served as a creative on a project. However, the experience taught me incredibly useful skills such as organization, time management, and, of course, the relationship between the business and the creative side of theatre. For the rest of my theatre career at Marymount, I am planning to stay involved with the playwriting projects (as I have developed a true love for new works) and explore how my passion and knowledge of history can be woven through my devotion to the theater. After officially becoming a history major (Marymount’s FIRST official declaration since the creation of the new major), I have decided to pursue my interest in dramaturgy alongside directing. Aside from theatre, my natural ability to lead prompted me to be a Peer Leader, which has allowed me to connect with 30 first-year students. As someone who is passionate about NYC and Marymount, I enjoyed giving tours and offering an abundant amount of “fun facts” (I’m glad my semi-useless knowledge about weird historical sites throughout Manhattan came in handy). My intelligence and capability to network also led me to becoming the Secretary of the Clubs and Activities Board at MMC, where we are developing ways to make events like Apple Fest and Homecoming virtual. If chosen for this council, I am confident in both my academics and experience in the theatre department to take an active role in addressing concerns, as well as constructing proactive dialogue that is inclusive and diversified.