Shawndia Jones

Ms. Volpe
CAP Self-Assessment, Trimester 2
2/21/2019

Part 1: Taking Stock

1. The achievement I am proudest of in my work this year to date is my role in the Hello
Dolly performance. I was casted as a judge with only a couple lines, but I am proud that
I got those lines memorized long before I even needed to. I am also proud of the dancing
roles I got in the musical because I was very rusty on choreography before I started the
musical. Now I feel more confident in memorizing choreography.
2. When I feel stuck, I have found it helps to close all the tabs on my computer and shut
the screen. I usually just have to take a break for at least 30 minutes and relax. My best
work doesn’t get produced when I’m stressing out about it.
3. I’m drawn to work by Nina Simone because I see her as a woman of immense strength.
She was after all the “voice” of the Civil Rights Movement. I respect her due to her
willingness to take chances. She created a song Mississippi Goddam with the intentions
of releasing her grief from the Birmingham Church Bombing of 1963 and the murder of
civil rights activist, Medgar Evers. I did my game changers project on Simone, and even
after that, I still find myself listening to her music. She used her voice to help further the
black community. She encouraged young, black youths to continue to use their talents.
Simone also encouraged black people to embrace and love their blackness.
4. The biggest stumbling block I face in my work right now is the motivation. Sometimes
my creative work takes a backseat to my academic curriculars. Junior year has really
been my toughest year thus far at Watkinson. The workload has really kicked me in
gear this year and sometimes after finishing my work, I just go to sleep. It was hard
memorizing the monologues that I plan to perform for Ms. Volpe in late February
because studying takes up majority of my time every day.
5. Right now, I’m curious about furthering my acting career. I’m interested in being behind
the scenes. I want to, one day before I graduate Watkinson, try to direct a play, like a
middle school one.
6. A time I’ve broken “the rules” in my art form, and it has turned out well, is when I had to
improvise a scene during the performance night of ​A Raisin In The Sun. ​Someone forgot
their lines for a scene and I had to come up with a conversation that would lead me into
the next scene. It turned out well because I remembered my peers lines and said them
in a sensible way on stage. My peers caught onto what I was doing and we got right back
on track.
7. At the end of this year, I’d like to have completed both the winter musical and the spring
Free Shorts play. I want to somehow achieve playing lacrosse and being in the spring
play. This might be my last opportunity to play lacrosse because Free Shirts comes
every other year.
8. One discovery I’ve made about my own working patterns this year is that I need to
always have a backup plan. I need to be prepared for anything. For the gamechangers
presentation, I planned to use the three minutes of experiential time to sing one of Nina
 Simone’s songs. I was so excited about that because I’ve been trying to use my voice
more lately. However the weekend before the presentation, I caught a cold and lost my
voice. Of course I couldn’t have sung during the presentation, so I quickly scrambled
Sunday night (after waiting the whole weekend hoping that I would get better by
Monday) and found clips of Nina Simone performing. I had to time out the two clips that
night so that I wouldn’t run over the three minutes. I never should have waited until
Sunday night. I should have found the clips and timed them out on Friday or Saturday,
and used the Sunday to practice my presentation.
9. The most fun or pleasure I’ve gotten from my work this year was when I did Hello Dolly.
I was a little nervous about doing a musical because it was my first one in high school.
Most of the cast was surprisingly new to musicals as well, so we all encouraged each
other. It was just a pleasurable experience, even though the dress rehearsal was a little
rocky at first.
10. Something I should try to keep in mind is that I’m graduating in a year. I need to take
more risks. I wanted to do something for the last coffeehouse this year but I got
nervous. I promised myself that next year I have to perform at a coffeehouse before I
graduate.

Part 2. How am I doing on my CAP exit skills?

Rate yourself on a scale of 1 - 5 (5 being the highest) in each of the CAP exit skills areas. Be
honest about your strengths and weaknesses. Then, give a ​concrete example​ of growth in
every area in which you have made progress over the past two trimesters. If there is a skill
area at which you have not been working, please leave the “example” part blank.

1. The CAP diploma means that students have assembled a considerable body of
work in a variety of styles in their chosen disciplines: a group of monologues and
roles as an actor; solo, duet, and group dances; a portfolio of written work or
visual art, etc.

Rating: 2

Example of growth in this area: I have started to put together a group of monologues. I
think I can definitely improve in this area if I prioritize my CAP creative work along with
my academic work. I have to meet with Ms. Volpe next week and give her my performance
of a few monologues, and I’m nervous about it because I know that I haven’t spent as much
time as I would have liked to with them.

2. CAP graduates have developed considerable self-discipline, so that an internal

drive to pursue the art is strongly in place and supported with skills of creative
goal-setting, organization, resourcefulness, and follow-through.

Rating: 4
Example of growth in this area: I am very organized when it comes to the CAP Seminar
class. My assignments are always turned in on time. I didn’t rate myself a five because I still
need to improve on the follow-through of my goals, such as the monologues I have to
memorize.

3. CAP graduates have a broad acquaintance with the significant innovators, artists,
and schools in their chosen art forms, at least at the level of recognition
vocabulary if not active experiential connection.

Rating: 4

Example of growth in this area: I have a lot of significant actors and actresses that I admire.
I studied Regina King and I am currently studying Taraji P. Henson. As my college search
continue, I plan to look into schools with great acting programs.

4. CAP graduates know that creating new work is generally a two-phase

process—invention and revision—and have developed strategies and skills in each
phase. This includes the ability to critique their own work in service of improving it.

Rating: 5

Example of growth in this area: I think I have mastered this skill because I take pride in my
creative work. I always review my lines for a play or a musical. I always want to give the
best performance I can so I prepare very well for it.

5. CAP graduates can articulate the intentions behind a given piece of their own
work and explain why particular choices have been made in executing it.

Rating: 3

Example of growth in this area: Usually with monologues, it takes me a while to figure out
intentions from the writer. Performing the monologue for the first time usually helps me
figure out the meaning behind it rather than just reading it over and over again.

6. CAP graduates recognize that they are part of a community of artists and have the
skills, interests, and awareness necessary to participate actively in dialogue with
artists from other disciplines about their work.

Rating: 5

Example of growth in this area: I love listening to my peers discuss their creative
endeavors. Most of my friends are multi-talented and find ways to incorporate more than
one art form in one huge masterpiece. It’s refreshing to live in a community of artists that
share their work frequently. Sometimes I ask my fellow artists their opinions on how I
should perform my monologues and they gladly help.

7. CAP graduates have experience in active collaboration with artists from other
disciplines in creating original work that crosses disciplinary boundaries.

Rating: 3

Example of growth in this area: I have collaborated with musicians and dancers in the
production of Hello Dolly. I haven’t created an original work that uses collaboration as yet,
but I plan to in the execution of my triangulation project.

8. CAP graduates have developed considerable skill in self-presentation before an

audience, and considerable polish in the presentation of portfolios, programs,
resumes, and other paper or online indicators of professionalism.

Rating: 5

Example of growth in this area: I think my public speaking has definitely come a long way.
Ever since my freshman year, I was told to project my voice in the amphitheater. That
comment followed me all the way to my junior year. I think I finally projected my voice in
the performance of Hello Dolly. As I was speaking my three lines in that musical, “PROJECT
SHAWNDIA” was in my mind the whole time.

**Which CAP Exit Skills do you need to work on most and how will you do that going
forward?

I need to work on the skill of “CAP graduates can articulate the intentions behind a
given piece of their own work and explain why particular choices have been made in
executing it.” I need to be able to pick a piece of work from my repertoire and easily tell
the meaning behind it to people. I plan to do that going forward by reading in between
the lines. I want to find a deeper meaning rather than just a surface meaning. I want to
sit down with my work and annotate it, and then perform it.
Part 3 : write a 1-2 page response about one of our trimester 2 masterclasses or
events. You can’t write here about your own experience as a performer (ie. your
coffeehouse performance; this should be a reflection on someone else’s work) You
can write about a New York trip event only if you did not address it in your New York
reflection.

The Coffeehouse

The coffeehouse this winter was the first coffeehouse that I have been to in my
Watkinson career. I have always wanted to go to one, but I never got around to it. Likewise,
I have always wanted to perform in one, but I never got around to it. This coffeehouse
however, opened up my eyes to the amount of unacknowledged talent people have. My
friend Jadalynn Rivera performed as a singer at the coffeehouse for the first time. She
expressed her nervousness to me and I encouraged her to do it. Jadalynn got on stage at the
coffeehouse and gave an amazing performance of an Alicia Keys song. I felt so proud of her,
but at the same time a little hypocritical. How could I encourage someone to not let fear
stop them and use their voice, if I was allowing fear to stop me from using mine? Jadalynn
has inspired me to make a pact to myself that before I graduate, I would sing at a
coffeehouse.
Aside from that experience, I got to witness my peers play their instruments for the
first time, such as Jamie Toomey playing the guitar, Thalia Pitti playing the banjo, Ryan
Franzi playing the violin, Taylor Lemus playing the trumpet, Jeff Willet playing the drums,
and Tiffany Wang playing the piano. It made me wish that I could play an instrument easily.
I never knew that so many of my friends were musicians.
The stand up comedy act by Gabby Collins was so funny. She stated issues that were
so relatable, like her dislike for Wellness Wednesdays in place of health class, which I
agreed with. She also told stories of her younger self. I heard that she did stand up comedy
acts at other coffeehouses, which made me regret missing the other ones even more.
It was touching listening to Charles Sinche sing a song as a tribute to his brother. I
also liked how Allisson Vidovich tributed to the music concert by having us all sit in silence
for two minutes, no matter how uncomfortably silent it was. Cesar Ramos’ freestyle is
always a pleasure to listen to.
All of this goes to say that I am extremely happy I finally made it to a coffeehouse
and I am so excited and anxious to perform at one next year!