Monday, January 19, 2009

THE TURTLE MAKES A CHANGE

by Drama Instructor, Celmali Jaime

Melbert always had a situation. He missed the first day. His shirt wasn’t the right size. He managed to get pulled out of the classroom for the umpteenth time. He didn’t feel like participating. To me, it seemed like Melbert was never in the mood to do much of anything. So why was he here? I wanted to give up. Having Melbert in my drama class was drama.

But then there was a conflict. It halted our entire drama class. We all sat in a circle and tried to move the two students through the four peacemaking steps together: Think it out, Talk it out, Work it out, and Live it out. As the students worked to solve the situation, we began a discussing of how each of us responds to conflict. One person shouted “I’m a shark!” It was clear she was the type of person to use force and bullying to get her way. Another said he was a “Fox” and used compromise to achieve his goal. Then it was Melbert’s turn. “I used to always be a shark,” he said, “but that got me into trouble at school. Now, I have to be a turtle.”

And then, it clicked. Melbert was using avoidance to respond to his conflicts. He had been doing it all along. When the challenge of drama class became too much to bear, he would simply disengage, and avoid drama class altogether.

But by the end of the program, Melbert understood the downside of avoidance. In the final performance, he played the role of the turtle. Just like a turtle would, he inched his way towards the center and powerfully delivered the lines he had written:

I am a tree

I don’t talk a lot

I don’t want to go on stage to perform by myself.

I am like the sun behind the clouds.

I am sad, lonely and invisible.

I am SHY.

Melbert had given honest voice to what was going on inside. His riveting performance left everyone speechless. Afterwards, he began to give other students tips on how to connect with the characters they were playing. The turtle had finally come out of his shell!

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