Jacob Flores graduated from the Theatre Department and will head to the California Institute of the Arts this fall to pursue a B.A. in acting! He has starred in Theatre’s productions of “Noises Off!”, “She Kills Monsters”, “Sense and Sensibility”, “Columbinus”, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time”, and “The Aliens”.

“I loved our productions of “Noises Off!” and “The Aliens”. Noises Off was challenging and really well-received, and with “The Aliens” I felt like I could truly get lost in the role. It was a particularly intimate show. “Columbinus” was also very meaningful to me, in that I was able to witness the profound effects theatre can have on an audience.”

Jacob will miss his peers and the faculty.

“There are some pretty great people here. The students are so dedicated — such critical thinkers. Their art requires them to spend a lot of time with themselves and observe the world around them, so they tend to be very well-rounded individuals.The faculty are unique in the sense that you really know them. You have teachers that you consider friends. And the amount of training they can provide you — I don't know anywhere else like it.”

Jacob’s advice for incoming freshmen and prospective young artists was that of patience.

“Trust the process. It's easy to feel like you are in a rut and not making any progress. But if you spend the time to really dedicate yourself to your craft, you are going to get great results out of your time here. It's not just fun and games. This school is truly difficult to attend. It is a lot of work. And it's easy to be skeptical of your department heads or your teachers. But looking back, everything that Ben [Dicke, Theatre Department Chair] has done for me — well, I can't thank him enough.”

Congratulations Jacob, and to the rest of the class of 2019!

Photos by Thomas Mohr Photography