Installment Quattro

Chronicles of a City Chap: Making a Difference



I will first start by saying that I cannot remember ever thinking that I am bored here. I do find myself thinking and saying, on occasion, am I going to get a taste of Me Time so I don't hurt anyone. I have not been arrested and I have yet to curse out anybody...so...I reckon I have found, if only for mere minutes, some Me Time.

So what have I been doing? I have just been allowing this experience to continue to wash over me and figuratively cleanse me. We have been to many schools and we have met a LOT of young people. Most of these kids, as you should suspect, are in rural areas where the only people of color they will see will be myself and another actress in my company. I was initially apprehensive about going into these school and truth be told I still am at times. I have no physical fear of these kids but I do get emotional anxiety at times wondering how much experience they have with diversity and how that will affect my classes. As most of us learned in social pysch., alot of prejudices that youth dramatize is learnt behavior. This anxiety that creeps up in me at times [and I must make it clear that these feelings are not constant but a reality nonetheless] is also do the environmental and societal "rules" that I follow, fight or support. Against my initial judgments I have been showered with a wall of support from faculty and students. Just to give you a highlight of the work we have been doing I shall recap a few experiences.


I know I said from my previous blog how I love the 9th graders but WOW did a group of 7th graders just turn my world around. These students were so engaging, provocative and just hungry for knowledge that I could have taught all day....well actually I did. Usually when we work with the older HS students it takes some times to get them to answer questions or to even raise their hands to participate. Much of this is do to the "cool factor"--they think they are too cool to do anything but exist. Now my 7th/8th graders were so involved that I could not contain myself. Their energy gave me energy and we just connected. I had a funny 9th grade girl insist on making me realize that I look 19 years old and that I should tell people that I am 19. I told her that is fine by me. So from now on when people ask you my age you tell me 19!


And just when you think you are NOT getting through to a group of older students I had a Senior stop me after one class and ask me what I thought she should do because her friend wanted to take an illegal drug. I won't go into the conversation because it was lengthy but I did encourage her to speak up/stand up to her friend and to get the necessary help if she did not feel the friend was going to listen. That was the 1st time that a student felt comfortable enough to let me into their lives and to really seek me out. I am starting to understand the power of our work.

We also had the pleasure of performing at a Children's Home. Most of the kids live their because their parents could not take care of them and/or they have a personal history with substance abuse. I know one of the actor's had a student in his class who admitted to having a Cocaine addiction when he was 13--they boy is only 15 years old now. I had a boy in one of my classes admit to me that his aunt and other people in his family were addicted to meth and how they are going to keep doing it and won't stop until they get caught. I mean this boy could not have been more than 13 years old and most of the issues that we present were common to him. He knew people who did meth, he knows what can happen in meth labs and all the consequences of meth abuse. The pain in this boy's voice just broke my heart and all the while he is talking to me I cannot help but feel helpless. It took alot of energy to not break down.

On a bit of a lighter note I have been finding balance with my work, social and professional lives. I am still hanging out with my core group of people and we now are known as "the fam" (as in family). Not only have we been socializing but we also look out for each other and isn't that what friendship is supposed to be about? Since my weeks are getting heavier with travels I have found my place within my company. In all honesty I have found where I want the people in my company's place to be in my life. I went to this amusement park called ValleyScare with 2 other company members and we had a blast! It was just a fun late afternoon/evening of fun and scare. We went through 6 Haunted Houses and we're freaked out by all of them and screamed our asses off for 3 hours. It was great!!! I have also signed on to do a holiday play at CLIMB called "The Elves and The Shoemaker" I am The Shoemaker and this is going to be SO MUCH FUN. We are going perform this play for lil kids and they get to help be elves and assist me in making lots of imaginary shoes for The Queen in the play. Me involving myself in this show will do 2 things: 1st it will give me a break from Meth. And 2nd it gives me an opportunity to work with some other people at CLIMB.


As all can read I am doing great. I do miss my friends and family so don't any of you ever forget that. I do love hearing from all of you as well. So drop me an email, text or vmail and let me know what is up. You know I always respond with intentions of it being sooner than later.



Passionately Yours ~ Keone The Kid