English and Drama Personal Statement Example

Drama has been a huge impact on my life; it has given me confidence that I did not have and new experiences I have drawn from it.

I really enjoy everything about this subject; from the coursework, watching and analysing plays to performing them and then inventing something/someone I have had no experience being before.

Drama gives me an immense feeling of release and I love the sense of being part of something so full of energy and enthusiasm; I would revel in the chance to learn more about the subject and gain more personal experience and skills to continue this on in a degree.

The creativity level that is required is really what compels me to continue this subject and intertwine this with my career path.

Throughout GCSE to AS I have explored and performed many plays; from a range of different genre and styles. My two favourite performances have both been in my A level years; the point in my life when I am feeling more confident with who I am.

The first was a scripted piece of “Blue Remembered Hills” by Dennis Potter in which we all played seven year olds in WW2. Being 6”1 my initial thought was that I was going to struggle but I revelled in the challenge and achieved a respectable grade but more importantly I had fun doing it and discovered more about myself.

The second was my hardest task yet; the stimulus was 'Josef Fritzl'. From this we created a court room with a small audience of twelve as a jury and the prosecutor and defendant telling two opposing sides of the story. Unlike for everyone else in my class, this subject really hit home and I internally struggled to do this as I played Older Elizabeth (the woman abused by her father) .

But this turned round to possibly be one of my best achievements to date as it was much more personal that anything I've done before and although it took time I really felt that I had achieved an internal battle; and judging by the tears on the audiences faces I would like to think we did a good job!

I have been given several opportunities to test my dedication and skills. In 2007 I was involved in the Shakespeare Youth Festival and joint Produced/directed 'Macbeth' with a friend of mine.

The play was not incredibly successful but it was certainly a learning curve for me and taught me to be more patient and work better at my teamwork and leadership skills.

Also that same year I sought out a Year 10 class to help teach; over the few months that I helped I had an opportunity to run exercises, work with some students individually and as groups and do general tasks in the lesson.

In 2006 I was asked to join a production company “Stage Directions” that my school was running and through this I was able to experience many other aspects of drama such as organising, producing and even teaching.

My friend James and I ran a ten week project where students could pay a small fee to be taught a combination of drama (devised or text) dance (jazz and street) and circus skills by Year 11 and sixth form students.

After this they would put together what they had learned and perform in our schools annual Christmas concert: which we also both organised. It was extremely stressful and something that was very out of our theatre comfort zone; but I drew a fantastic experience from this and it was immensely popular and successful.

Despite having some troublesome and lack lustre children the raw talent I witnessed from some of these children was incredible and having the power to help them to develop and mould that a little further was truly remarkable; it was the final push towards my future career path decision- a teacher.

Despite the cliché line, I truly have been a book lover for as long as I can remember but through GCSE and A level I have know been able to put my imagination and ability to something productive and study and read plays, novels and poetry that I would most likely have never read.

I enjoy a wide variety of books; from popular authors such as Roald Dahl and Shakespeare to more modern authors like Nora Roberts, Joan Jonker, Stephanie Meyer and J.K.Rowling.

My particular favourite unit was the war poetry; to be able to explore how the brave soldier dealt with the terrifying situation through the outlet of poetry was simply touching.

This unit then lead onto our 'creative writing' coursework which in turn developed my hidden love for creating stories and I began to write a story set in WW2 'Enchanted Hearts' As my knowledge developed so did my ability to analyse and discuss; I can not quote Chaucer, Dickinson and Bronte off the top of my head but when given a piece of literature in some form I will tackle it and form an opinion in a mature and structured manner.

Despite my unsuccessful first year I picked myself up and am now more determined to do this than ever. I have witnessed and felt how a teacher can help a student into reaching their potential; "Without education, you are not going anywhere in this world." (Malcolm X).

This is something that I really want to encourage people to appreciate when I reach my aspiration of secondary teacher as I know many people regret taking their education for granted and wish they had had that much needed push into the right direction; I aim to be the teacher that goes that one step further to ensure this.