Blindspot and community

Hello all!

Well I'm sure the concept of community at Coe has been reiterated here time after time, but I have yet another stunning example of why this place has been such a home to me over the last four years. One of the most important aspects of a future college for me when I was in my college search was a place where I felt I could be well-rounded in. More specifically, I wanted to make sure I'd be able to continue to grow in my love for singing despite my interests in other academic fields. I know that I am never done growing, that I'm a constant work in progress, and I was so happy to find myself in a place where I could continue to grow, continue to expand my interests, make mistakes and hit brick walls along the way, and all the while have a solid safety net in the community at this college to catch me when I fell. I've had some huge experiences over the last four years, both successes and failures, and all the while I've had a foundation of support to carrying me through it all. 

To relate this concept to a specific incident, let's look at the Offstage Players' bimonthly event called Blindspot. Every two Fridays or so, any student from any walk of life with any interest or talent may take the opportunity to sign up for a time slot at Blindspot. The event consists of 5-minute acts during which these students sing, perform their new piano composition, tap dance, read their latest poem, do stand-up comedy, whatever, to a packed audience of their peers. Each show is a huge hit. The thought process behind the name Blidndspot is to imply that the audience is expected to be blind to the flaws of the performers: they are here in this safe and welcoming space to share a part of themselves with the audience, and respect is a given. For the first time in over a year, I performed at Blindspot last Friday. It's so easy as a senior to start to lose that sense of belongingness I once felt so passionately for Coe, but performing on that stage last Friday rekindled the comfort and community that all the joys and memories of the last four years have been built upon. It was such a refreshing experience.

Katie