Ryan Kirschman

Ryan

Different people. Different ways to be who you are.

You meet quite a mix of people at Kent. And it's good because they are not the same as the friends you had back home. They have different interests and different opinions. It sort of opens up your world.

Maybe I'm a good example. I came here on a scholarship (and spent my first term living with the family of a Kent administrator) when Hurricane Katrina destroyed my school. Kent, Connecticut, is so far and so different from New Orleans but it's ok because there's such a mix of people here. I mean, there are kids from all over the world; my best friends are from Ghana and Hong Kong. And the funny thing is, they are all typical American teenagers, even if they're not American.

So, being in this environment, with all this diversity, it seems to somehow spark surprising, new opportunities. For me, I've always really been into theater and acting. Part of why I came to Kent is their incredible theater department. There's a great stage here, and the best actors I've ever met; I got to write and direct some one-act plays; now I'm even working on a screenplay. But somewhere along the line, I took an astronomy class. It was great—really hard but incredibly interesting. So, next year, I'm going to Tulane to major in it. It seems like almost the opposite from acting and writing. But I think I can do both. I can be both a scientist and an artist. Kent showed me that. You can be a different type of person. You can be whatever you want.