'Everybody Says Don't': Theatre education major turns passion into his path

Connor Shields decided his future while sitting in the Majestic Theater on Broadway. Sitting between classmates during a high school choir trip, the overture to Phantom of the Operahad just begun.

"The costumes, the set, the music…I was entranced," recalls Shields, who graduates summa cum laude from Rowan's College of Performing Arts this spring. "I knew I had to do it as a career."

And so began his journey to turn his passion into his path.

Shields returned to his Holland, Pennsylvania home and shared this realization with his parents. Together, they began researching all things theater, like "what can you do with a theater degree?" and collegiate programs in the area. Pleasantly surprised by the breadth of results, Shields saw an opportunity to make this journey his own. He began seizing opportunities left and right.

First, he registered for the Mid-Atlantic Regional College Auditions, an event that invites high school juniors and seniors to audition for recruiters representing hundreds of collegiate theater and dance programs in the region. Shields went into it for the experience, thinking it would be a test run for the college audition process. Professors and recruiters took notice and encouraged him to return to audition during his senior year. The MARCAs also marked Shields' first trip to Rowan, where the event was held.

"Rowan was kind of out of nowhere," says Shields, "From my hometown, state schools always rise to the top, so no one really knew what Rowan was."

After completing his audition and taking a tour of campus, Shields was intrigued. He then took the opportunity to shadow a Rowan theater student later that year. Within the first 10 minutes of the first class he attended he knew Rowan was the place for him.

"I had the chance to not just sit in, but to participate in a college theater class," Shields says, recalling the professors were encouraging the visitors to join in discussions and activities. "You really are a student for the day, which was great."

Education & Educating
Cut to January 2023 - Shields is in his third year as a theatre major with Rowan's College of Performing Arts. In his first five semesters, he picked up concentrations in acting, musical theatre and theatre education, minors in creative writing and dance, and performed in three department MainStage productions. He also secured an internship with the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, became an admissions ambassador for the University, a member of the Alpha Psi Omega theatre honor society and Campus Players. Shields even earned his first two professional credits for Spring Awakening and Kinky Boots with the Grand Theatre in Williamstown, all while pursuing Rowan's 4+1 program for a Master of Science in Teaching.

Shields felt that at Rowan he would have the opportunity to do it all; work on his craft as a performing artist, train to become an educator and pursue a graduate degree.

"In our program, we are more than just theatre students," Shields says, "Here, you get to grow as a person and an artist and explore what interests you."

Even with a schedule packed with rehearsals, daily campus tours, internship hours and school work, Shields continued to soak up as much as possible. So when theatre professor Elizabeth Hostetter emailed all majors about a teacher's assistant opportunity with Cooper Medical School of Rowan University; he jumped at the chance, changing that packed schedule around to make things work.

Once a week, Shields joined Hostetter for a class for medical students, focused on building empathy and connections between doctors and their patients. In the two-hour sessions, Shields worked with students on writing and performing monologues, blank scene templates and theater exercises.

"It's a vulnerable thing for a young person, but working with the medical students, Connor was just so open and eager," says Hostetter, who describes Shields as a hardworking, generous, natural-born leader. "He's the only one I worked with where I felt comfortable letting him run a class completely by himself." Another opportunity Shields took in stride.

This spring, Shields leveraged his passion for education for his senior project, creating a series of lesson plans for an introduction to movement class and then bringing it to the classroom to test it. According to Shields, the students enjoyed it and provided positive feedback and his professor kept his presentation to incorporate in future classes.

"A lot of people might choose education as a fallback because working in the arts can feel vulnerable, but not Connor," says Hostetter. "He sees teaching as an avenue to express himself as an artist. And that is what will make him an amazing teacher."

Everybody Says Don't
After crossing the commencement stage on May 7, Shields says he is working on packing his summer schedule, with plans to audition for West Side Story at Haddon Township's Ritz Theatre. If he joins the cast, he'll live in Glassboro and continue his work in admissions, while bouncing between Wildwood for the summer months (if only for Sam's Pizza). Shields will also continue his work at the Walnut as a summer theater camp counselor for ages 7 to 17, before returning to Rowan in the fall to continue working toward his MST.

Described as curious, kind and generous, faculty praise him for being a bright light and a positive role model for all students.

"It's palpable," theatre professor Lane Savadove says of Shields' effect on other students. "He understands how much his positivity can lift any artistic or academic space. It's just easier to make it through the day with Connor around."

These attributes come from a student who had both his senior year of high school and first year of college interrupted by COVID-19. Shields attributes his infectious positivity to the Steven Sondhein song, "Everybody Says Don't," doing the opposite daily.

"Don't let anyone tell you you can't," says Shields, "You are in charge of your education and your path. Who are you letting stop you?"

Every spring, Rowan University highlights one graduating student from each school and college. Read more stories about this year's featured graduates.

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