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At 3:38 p.m. students all across school start to file out. They’re ready to go home, do hours of homework and relax. 

But for the many students involved in Performing Arts activities on campus, their day is only half over. 

The school is known for its outstanding Performing Arts Department and the shows within them. 

But these shows don’t just happen over night. 

VNHS Theatre Company’s recent production of “The Haunting of Hill House” rehearsed for seven weeks before it opened the final week of October. 

So, between hours of rehearsals and hours of homework, there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day for these performing arts students. 

But these students love what they do, so they find a way to balance everything they have, no matter what it takes. This is the case for Sophomore Elle Sinio.

Sinio was not only an Assistant Stage Manager for the fall play, but is on board for four different clubs, while taking a full course load. She often finds herself making both academic and social sacrifices to get everything done.

“Many, many assignments have been sacrificed for my extracurriculars,” she said.  “It’s a very hard balance to make. And if that means staying up until four in the morning and getting two hours of sleep, that’s just how I do it, even though it’s not healthy.”

Sinio does everything she can in the Performing Arts department, and puts in so many hours of work during the day, not only because she loves the work, but because of college, which is quickly getting closer.

“I don’t agree that we should have to work this hard just to get into college,” she said. “But if that’s the sacrifice I need to make then I’ll do it.”

Recent graduate Ethan Rodda, who served as the Production Stage Manager two years and past President of Technical Theater club, has to stay up until 12:30 most nights yet he finds the balance through a rigorous study schedule he makes once he gets home. 

“I found that I work really well at night after I’ve done rehearsal and school,” he said. “I make myself a schedule and then I start working on what I need to do.”

Rodda got his start doing onstage work, but after taking Mr. Green’s “Into to Technical Theater” class, he became more involved in the technical side of the Performing Arts department. 

He knows he has to do whatever it takes, because he hopes technical theatre will one day be his future. 

“I love what I do,” he said. “I strive to be in the industry when I grow up. My main goal is to do  camera work or lighting work. So what I do now is to prepare for things that I’ll need in my future.”

The future is what motivates a lot of the department. 

Senior Addison Cudd hopes to become an actress past high school, and is currently chasing her goal by performing any opportunity she can get.

Addison agrees that it’s a struggle to balance everything. 

While she attempts to do her homework once she gets home, it’s often late at night, so her homework gets saved for the following school day.

“I try to get at least a piece of homework done every night, but that doesn’t always end up happening,” she said. “It just really depends on getting it done in between classes and during lunch and even during rehearsals every once in a while.”

Cudd believes that students shouldn’t have to go through this just because they have extra curriculars. She believes that teachers should be more lenient with students in general, but specifically with students who have to stay on campus so late everyday.

“I wish they were more lenient,” She said. “I really do. I feel like they are with athletes. But they aren’t with the people who have shows.”

For Cudd, doing rehearsals and shows are incredibly similar to the life of an athlete.

“The adrenaline rush is the same,” she said. “When you get on that stage, running around doing all this stuff, it’s a sport of its own, it’s just a different kind of game. So I do think that they should respect Performing Arts students’ schedules and time more, especially the administration.”

Performing Arts students all agree that it can be tough and mentally draining to get everything done that they need to in a day. 

Junior Summer Chu, an active member of Dance Company, shares that while it is a lot of work to get everything done, she wouldn’t change it for anything, because to her, dance is everything.

“Sometimes academics can be super stressful and overwhelming, and dance is a release for that,” she said. “It’s just me and my body. Dance will definitely be in my life for as long as I can move.” 

Chu believes that students who are interested in taking on performing arts extracurriculars here on campus, but are worried about the time commitment involved, should just give it a try and see how it works out.

“In the beginning it’s always going to be tough, but everybody eventually finds their system and their grove and they find what works best for them,” she said. “It will never hurt to try. Classes and workloads are always changing. And you never know just what will work out.”

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2024 print edition.