Looking back to on my life from birth until now – there have been so many events that have happened. But, to begin, I will start with my background and where I come from. From my father’s side of the family, I am German and Russian, and from my mother’s side of the family I am Scottish and Polish. If I had to pick one of those backgrounds that was more apparent than any other it would have to be the German background, seeing as my last name is Herr. Herr means “Mister” in German, in other words, I’d be Mister Mister in German.
I am born and raised here in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I have spent all 22 years of my life in the same place, so I pretty much just fit right in. I don’t know if that is because I am a non-“minority” or if it just because I have been here for so long. And I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a non-minority because I am a gay man. So, I pretty much fall into a minority category. And me, being a gay male in Kenosha, is a whole separate story. I’ll save that for another blog at another time. Why don’t I dive into how I got to where I am today?
As a young kid I always had an interest in theatre. I participated in concerts and plays and anything that really had anything to do with performing for others. Ever since then I have wanted to do theatre. I participated in plays ever since then and now it is what I am doing with my life. I will be graduating from Parkside in May with a Theatre Arts degree with a concentration in acting. (Scary, I know). The main reason I got into acting is that I get the opportunity to be someone else for a short period of time. I get to put myself in someone else’s shoes and try it out for a while. Also, I love reading and performing Shakespeare. I have performed in a Shakespeare play every year since my freshman year of high school. I have grown very fond of his works and I consider myself a HUGE SHAKESPEARE NERD! J
Although acting is what I want to do with my life, I am currently going to work for American Players Theatre in Spring Green, WI for my third season as their Assistant Company Manager. I have learned a lot from this job and I am so glad that I get to be a part of such a wonderful company AND do what I love.
The reason I am taking this course is so I can learn more about others and about their ethnicities. I want to open my mind even more and I think this class is the way to do it.
Brandon!!!
ReplyDeleteYou need to give yourself more credit. As you stated in my blog being gay is hard to bring home to your parents, but you know what is even better than that, is that you are proud of who you are. Yes I know it stinks when family does not approve, just like my father's side of the family, but I have learned to grow and learn that it does not matter what others think, you be with you makes you happy. Especially being gay, people are going to judge you all the time and to be honest some people are never going to approve (especially in Wisconsin). Who cares what they think, and if your family does not approve, than they do not know you Brandon. You are about to graduate college!!! HELLO!!!! If your family is not proud of you just because you do not like girls, than I am sorry to say, forget them, in the end all you need is yourself.
One more thing, I am not gay but I like different races and to some this is striking. Yes I am attracted to black guys and other races as all. Honestly I personally do not care what race the guy is as long as he makes me happy and he makes me laugh and knows what he wants to do in life, than you best believe that I will be with that man. That is how you should look at it. There are plenty of time when I get "shit" talked to by other girls just because I am dating a man they want, but in the end it you and him.
HOPE this helps you:-)
Hi Brandon!
ReplyDeleteAs you may already know, I TOO AM A SHAKESPEARE NERD! There, I said it :-) I'll be interested to hear what you think of Takaki's treatment of "The Tempest" in Chapter 2 of "A Different Mirror"... In my work directing Shakespeare's plays behind prison walls, I am struck by the universal relevance of his characters and themes. My experience has been that men who "self-segregate" out on the yard can use Shakespeare's works as a place to find common ground.