At the end of the first semester, students participating in Acting 101 at Hostos Community College presented their scenes and monologues to an audience of their peers.

Students were given free reign to create their scenes the way that they wanted. Students needed to write, edit, and stage their scenes. Scenes were original and needed to try and confront social issues.

“We saw some of those today, all of your wonderful male students chose ones that had to do with what they perceived to be big issues in their world which I think poverty and equity, social relationships often manifesting in some sort of  getting to shoot the fake gun they found back stage about two weeks into class” said Professor Allison Pascale who conducted the course at Hostos.

The production allowed students to show another side of them that they’ve never seen before. 

“I was able to get out of my comfort zone and allowed my creative side to be released,” said Eloany Duran (Class of 2026)

Students were also tasked with blocking their scenes, creating costumes and building props. 

“[The use of props] helped me with my final act because without the prop gun we wouldn’t be able to express how the robbery was gonna go and engage our audience” said Mohamed Cisse (Class of 2026).

“The props set the vibes,” said Eloany. 

Taking classes at Hostos also gave HS223 students a view of the freedoms of a college life. 

“I feel it gives us freedom because we don’t have to stay at school we have the luxury to go out and get food” said Hamilton Espinosa (Class of 2026).

Even though students had help from HS223 advisors, they still realized the importance of having a relationship and good communication with professors.

“She prepared us for the harsh part of college and how college can be easier in some ways than high school” said Jakayla Harriot (Class of 2026).

Overall, students in the Acting class enjoyed the ability to try something new and to express themselves.

“Acting is something I never thought I would do and be good at because I use to have bad stage fright so I learned a new skill. But being at Hostos meant you have to prepare for college as far as how long the classes are and the importance of having a relationship and good communication with your teacher. ” said Alex Gomis (Class of 2026)