Occidental Theatre Major

"Diversity." That the students come from all different backgrounds or races/nationalities. The problem being that this doesn't necessarily translate into diversity of thought.

It depends on what you want from diversity. Do you want students and professors of different races and urban/rural areas? That much is true. But the thought process is all pretty much the same.

I love attending a small college-I've had so many more opportunities within the theater major that you dont' necessarily get at larger schools. The big thing that always gets me about Oxy, too, is that everyone is very friendly. The entire campus has a welcoming atmosphere, that is for the most part very genuine. Sometimes, however, opportunities for extracurriculars can be limited due to lack of interest. But being in LA-you can usually find other places to do something similar off-campus. Try breaking out of the bubble! Lots of students get stuck on just doing things on campus. But there is a huge city with every kind of activity, food, arts event, anything-right there! Downtown is a 15-minute drive away. And Eagle Rock has awesome inexpensive dining options and partnership opportunites for volunteering with public schools.

One of the reasons I love being at a small school is that you really get to know your professors and classmates. With the exception of a couple of intro classes that meet core requirements, almost all of my classes have had less than 20 students. Most classes are very discussion -oriented, and professors are very accessible for outside help, discussions, etc. I have had some amazing conversations with professors and other students stemming from class assignments. I was also impressed at how everything seems very integrated, all of my core classes (even science classes!) were interesting to me and connected to something else that I was studying in another class. The cool thing is that everyone knows that studying is a priority. People are very understanding if you have to decline to do something in order to study. We're all a little nerdy, even if it's deep down!

The theater department is amazing-it's definitely a community. Everyone kind of hangs out in there, so you're always running into other students and professors. The department-produced shows involve as many students as possible, and student projects are often also going on. The New Play Festival in February is written, produced, acted, designed, stage managed by students, and directed by professional directors. It's an awesome networking opportunity, and fun to see classmates' plays being fully produced with lights, sound, costumes, etc by other students!

The student body is extremely liberal, so there are a lot of awareness weeks and social/racial/etc events year-round. We joke that every week is a different theme-"Asian-Pacific Islander Week," "Save Darfur Week," "Take Back the Week (Night)." There are also lots of cultural events on campus, from dance performance groups, speakers, comdians, a luau, asian-themed night market.

Everyone is pretty chill-you are constantly meeting new people and eating with friends of friends. I interact with lots of different people on a day to day basis. It's also cool because although it's a small private school, a lot of people come from out of state or northern California. I've met lots of interesting people at Oxy, whom I will keep in contact with for years.

Oxy is pretty socially active, especially on weekends! Most weekend activities involve drinking, but you can find people who will do something else. It just takes a little longer to find out those people. I've planned several game nights amongst my friends-where everyone brings their favorite board game. Dorms are on-and-off social. Some are set up to welcome open doors and socializing. The newest dorm-Rangeview-has fire doors on all the rooms, so unless you find a door-stop, most doors are closed because they have to be propped open. The Cooler is a great place for hanging out-especially since the lounge area is now open all night.

UNforunately Oxy sometimes sucks at scheduling, and several events (even of the same type!) are scheduled for the same time. There was one weekend where the theater department main show, a Glee Club concert, and the orchestra concert were all happening the same night. Clubs often schedule things at the same time, which gets annoying sometimes. But there are speakers and special performers brought in a lot. There doesn't seem to be much theater support outside of the department itself, which is a little lame, because we put on really good shows!