In high school, I was part of the school jazz choir. It was the smallest ensemble, with about 10-15 students, and we practiced jazz techniques like scat and swing, learned how to improvise our own tunes, and performed at local schools, nursing homes, and businesses. One of the key parts of performing was how we acted on stage. We needed facial expressions that matched our piece, and we needed to create an environment that welcomed the audience in.

As someone with stage fright and social anxiety, it was a lot more difficult for me to put on the performance that I needed to put on. I asked my fellow singers how they did it, and one person told me their own method of “getting in character.” They told me that, in the moments leading up to a performance, they would put on the persona of a confident, professional singer who deserved to be on that stage. They put on a mask of self-assurance, and somehow, it worked: it was like they came to life on the stage, like performing was what they were meant to be doing.

At the time, I couldn’t believe that this was possible, and, frankly, I was just too anxious to make it happen. However, ever since, I’ve thought of that tip to help myself adjust to new environments and people. When I transferred to a small STEM boarding school for high school, I remembered my old singing partner’s tip, and I used it to adjust to the vastly new setting. As I got settled, I realized that I was being myself, but still being outgoing and having fun; the “mask,” or the double identity, had just been a mental process to help me along the way. When I came to OU this year, I thought of that same tip, and I used it to, once again, adjust to my new environment.