I AM A BUDDING ROSE: A REFLECTION
June 7th, 2022
Oh. My. Goodness. So much can change in three years. You can read my first reflection below, if you'd like to compare perspectives. While I remain on the same track of promoting learning and building empathy through the arts, I'm in awe of how much I have grown. My time at the University of Denver is coming to an end, and I am struck most by the person I used to be. It can be easy to think you haven't changed, but then you look back at a piece of writing from a few years ago and it's so apparent. I am so grateful.
We're nearing toward the official start of summer, but I'm still hanging on to spring as best I can. I love the smell of the blossoming trees and seeing the campus come to life - college students exiting their hibernation. I could bask in the evening sun until dark, listening to the crickets begin to chirp and the cicadas hum. It's my favorite time of year. When I think of spring, I think of my family's back yard and the giant rose bush that's attached to the patio. I think of how the roses look when they're about to blossom, and I watch them with much anticipation. That's how I feel right now, as I wait for graduation to happen this coming Saturday and for "the rest of my life" to begin afterward. I am a budding rose waiting for the perfect time to blossom.
I see the last few years as being the moments of planting, watering, sprouting, and growing. Every single thing I did in years past has led me to this moment. I want to take a moment to reflect on each year.
How honored and lucky I am to have a list so long and to know that it is growing by the day. I am feeling full and my heart is warm. I cannot wait for what the future has in store for me. I hope that I can take what I've learned and apply it to teaching young people. I hope that I can find ways to integrate art and theatre and all the things I love into my future classroom. I feel that through that integration I can encourage students to find deeper learning and to step into their empathetic selves.
Cheers to what's to come,
Madalyne Heiken
Oh. My. Goodness. So much can change in three years. You can read my first reflection below, if you'd like to compare perspectives. While I remain on the same track of promoting learning and building empathy through the arts, I'm in awe of how much I have grown. My time at the University of Denver is coming to an end, and I am struck most by the person I used to be. It can be easy to think you haven't changed, but then you look back at a piece of writing from a few years ago and it's so apparent. I am so grateful.
We're nearing toward the official start of summer, but I'm still hanging on to spring as best I can. I love the smell of the blossoming trees and seeing the campus come to life - college students exiting their hibernation. I could bask in the evening sun until dark, listening to the crickets begin to chirp and the cicadas hum. It's my favorite time of year. When I think of spring, I think of my family's back yard and the giant rose bush that's attached to the patio. I think of how the roses look when they're about to blossom, and I watch them with much anticipation. That's how I feel right now, as I wait for graduation to happen this coming Saturday and for "the rest of my life" to begin afterward. I am a budding rose waiting for the perfect time to blossom.
I see the last few years as being the moments of planting, watering, sprouting, and growing. Every single thing I did in years past has led me to this moment. I want to take a moment to reflect on each year.
- 2019
- Began working with the DSST: Byers Drama Club
- Formed partnership with Mirror Image Arts
- Worked with the DU Prison Arts Initiative to produce One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- 2020
- Assistant Stage Managed Killer Joe at the University of Denver
- Began working on Theatre as a Celebration of Diversity, had to shift to a radio play format because of COVID
- Pivoted Byers Drama Club online, produced some student written radio plays
- Applied for and received a Partners in Scholarship grant to produce SOAK by Connor Rodenbeck
- Directed a virtual play festival with the Byers Drama Club
- Held an internship with Mirror Image Arts over the summer
- 2021
- Directed a hybrid performance of Almost, Maine with the Byers Drama Club
- Directed and produced SOAK with a team of student designers and actors
- Assistant directed The Lonesome West under Tim McCracken at the University of Denver
- Directed a full-length play titled The Westing Game with the Byers Drama Club
- Served as assistant costume designer for Our Town at the University of Denver
- Maintained partnership with Mirror Image Arts
- Assisted the DU Prison Arts Initiative with the production of Antigone
- 2022
- Assistant directed Stop Kiss at the University of Denver
- Applied for and received an ACE grant
- Directed my first ever musical - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with the Byers Drama Club
- Collaborated with young people to complete Amplifying Youth Through Art
- Directed my senior capstone play
- Worked with Mirror Image Arts and Colorado legislators to pass a bill to prohibit insurance companies from charging juveniles for restitution fees
- Assistant Directed and Projection Designed for The Laramie Project with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Education Department.
How honored and lucky I am to have a list so long and to know that it is growing by the day. I am feeling full and my heart is warm. I cannot wait for what the future has in store for me. I hope that I can take what I've learned and apply it to teaching young people. I hope that I can find ways to integrate art and theatre and all the things I love into my future classroom. I feel that through that integration I can encourage students to find deeper learning and to step into their empathetic selves.
Cheers to what's to come,
Madalyne Heiken
WE CAN BE SUPERHEROES, TOO: A REFLECTION
April 27, 2019
The opening weekend of Avengers: Endgame has made me realize how much I have loved growing up with so many superheroes to look up to. I always admired their selflessness, integrity, and passion for the civic good. I must admit that I am quite sad that the story line I’ve watched since I was 9 is now ending. If anything, though, I have learned so much throughout my journey with Marvel Universe, and I’m excited to apply those lessons to my education and further commitment to community engagement.
Although they faced many outrageous obstacles, the Avengers always centered themselves around a unified and elevating goal: to protect the world’s people. While I am just one person, my ultimate goal is to inspire others to feel the same sort of civic responsibility the Avengers exemplified. As a future educator, I want to encourage students to follow their passions and become heroes for others.
As my first year of college comes to a quick but expected close, I want to reflect on what I have done thus far in pursuit of my dream. I’d first like to mention that becoming a DU Grand Challenges Champion has challenged me in ways I did not expect, and it’s granted me with several rewarding opportunities; I am truly grateful. Throughout my journey, I haven’t stopped to focus on just one thing. I think it’s important to gain exposure to a variety of different things to become a more well-rounded student and community member. However, I have been greatly intrigued by Theatre for Social Change and the many ways it can take form in community engagement.
My involvement in the previously mentioned Experiential Weekend had no direct ties to Theatre for Social Change, but my experience with the Lighthouse Hard Times Writing Group did. In my Theatre for Social Change course, taught by Dr. Ashley Hamilton, we worked with members from this group to create a presentation celebrating the times people were helped or appreciated during a difficult time. A majority of the group members were experiencing or had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives, and a couple of them touched on these subjects through their final scenes. It was interesting for me to hear and see the portrayals of such tribulations juxtaposed to the numbers and statistics of Colorado/Denver homelessness. I feel like I have a better understanding of Colorado homelessness, and of how I can impact it in my own life, because of the combination of these two experiences.
I recently applied for a CAHSS Student Inclusive Excellence Project Award to fund a project I am hoping to complete next year (2019-2020). This project intends to bring together people of several different backgrounds to create a performance celebrating our diversity and identities. Intersectionality isn’t commonly talked about outside of the academic setting; I would like to introduce community members to engage with intersectionality and reflect on how it might have affected their lives. Through this process and the final performance, I hope we create an environment of learning and empathy.
There’s a lot more I could dive in to, but I think right now this is a good stopping point. I am fortunate to have found so many opportunities that directly or indirectly relate to my aspirations. As I continue in the DU Grand Challenges Champions program, I hope that I can help better integrate DU’s community into that of the Denver community. I think through this partnership, we would be able to make meaningful change, just like the Avengers.
-Madalyne Heiken
The opening weekend of Avengers: Endgame has made me realize how much I have loved growing up with so many superheroes to look up to. I always admired their selflessness, integrity, and passion for the civic good. I must admit that I am quite sad that the story line I’ve watched since I was 9 is now ending. If anything, though, I have learned so much throughout my journey with Marvel Universe, and I’m excited to apply those lessons to my education and further commitment to community engagement.
Although they faced many outrageous obstacles, the Avengers always centered themselves around a unified and elevating goal: to protect the world’s people. While I am just one person, my ultimate goal is to inspire others to feel the same sort of civic responsibility the Avengers exemplified. As a future educator, I want to encourage students to follow their passions and become heroes for others.
As my first year of college comes to a quick but expected close, I want to reflect on what I have done thus far in pursuit of my dream. I’d first like to mention that becoming a DU Grand Challenges Champion has challenged me in ways I did not expect, and it’s granted me with several rewarding opportunities; I am truly grateful. Throughout my journey, I haven’t stopped to focus on just one thing. I think it’s important to gain exposure to a variety of different things to become a more well-rounded student and community member. However, I have been greatly intrigued by Theatre for Social Change and the many ways it can take form in community engagement.
My involvement in the previously mentioned Experiential Weekend had no direct ties to Theatre for Social Change, but my experience with the Lighthouse Hard Times Writing Group did. In my Theatre for Social Change course, taught by Dr. Ashley Hamilton, we worked with members from this group to create a presentation celebrating the times people were helped or appreciated during a difficult time. A majority of the group members were experiencing or had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives, and a couple of them touched on these subjects through their final scenes. It was interesting for me to hear and see the portrayals of such tribulations juxtaposed to the numbers and statistics of Colorado/Denver homelessness. I feel like I have a better understanding of Colorado homelessness, and of how I can impact it in my own life, because of the combination of these two experiences.
I recently applied for a CAHSS Student Inclusive Excellence Project Award to fund a project I am hoping to complete next year (2019-2020). This project intends to bring together people of several different backgrounds to create a performance celebrating our diversity and identities. Intersectionality isn’t commonly talked about outside of the academic setting; I would like to introduce community members to engage with intersectionality and reflect on how it might have affected their lives. Through this process and the final performance, I hope we create an environment of learning and empathy.
There’s a lot more I could dive in to, but I think right now this is a good stopping point. I am fortunate to have found so many opportunities that directly or indirectly relate to my aspirations. As I continue in the DU Grand Challenges Champions program, I hope that I can help better integrate DU’s community into that of the Denver community. I think through this partnership, we would be able to make meaningful change, just like the Avengers.
-Madalyne Heiken