Dylan Heeter

“I really do not hold myself to specific career goals. All I want to do is be happy, and whether that is something I find in my current path of the arts, or in some new opportunity that crosses my path is not something that I can concern myself with at the moment. I always say, ‘You can only fail if you have a plan.’”

“Will Newcomb is my favorite faculty member at Carthage. He is the assistant technical director for the theatre program and one of the scene shop supervisors. I have never not had a good time working with William, and in the end, I even learned a thing or two. What more can you ask of a man?”

“Voice for the Stage with John Maclay. First of all, it was just a mess of fun to learn how to do different dialects. But most importantly, it taught me a great deal about my voice and how to use it, not only on the stage but in life. I now have a much greater command of the sounds that come out of me, and this has paid dividends in the way that I am able to express myself.”

“My toughest class thus far at Carthage was Religion 1000. If there is one thing that I do not like, it is being in a lecture-oriented class. I learn through discussion of ideas, and nothing makes me lose interest faster than being droned at. The actual class was not hard but what was hard, was the act of forcing myself to try to connect.”

“Opportunities at Carthage are endless. Even as a freshman, the chances to participate in the department are all available to you, backstage and on it. Also outside of theatre, the amount of opportunity you have to study abroad and see the world are next to none.”

“What stands out in my mind are the friendships that I’ve made and people that I’ve come into contact with. Specific moments tend to fade out of my mind, so what I hold on to are the feelings and loose connections that link my life together. I like to live in the present at all times, carrying with me only what has molded me into the man I am today.”

“Nothing beats the secluded spots on the beach. The rocks behind Straz and Lentz that sit right on the water are always a place where I try to spend time when the weather is nice.”

“When I entered college, I thought I knew what I wanted to do. I was a double major in history and theatre with a minor in secondary education. I was going to teach high school. This changed second semester when I realized that although I loved history, it was not what I wanted to devote my life to, so I became an English major. But still I held on to the idea that I would teach, even if it was only a backup plan. Then during the summer, I matured a lot and many of my views on life — and more important, on myself — changed. I decided that holding on to a safety net would provide for me and it might even have been fulfilling, but it was not what I truly wanted to do. So I made the plunge into theatre completely and never looked back.”

“Well, when I was 8, I wanted to be a paleontologist so I think I would be a touch disappointed with myself. But I’ve heard it said that theatre is dead, so maybe that would be close enough for young me.”

“Take the risk to do what you love. ‘A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for,’ John Augustus Shedd.”