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Student #1 has left a new comment on your post "Home: Not Just a Place, But Also a Responsibility":

This article, although not exactly applicable to me, describes part of my life very well. I have been around more Indian/South Asian people growing up and been to Pakistan plenty of times, but at the same time, I totally relate to the author, like how he probably thought he was white as often as he realized he wasn't. Growing up and going to a tiny school, of what used to be mostly caucasian kids definitely is the primary cause. Additionally the concept of home and of family being very intertwined makes a lot of sense to me, but I guess that's how I was raised. I never feel like a guest at any of my relatives houses, they are home. Which makes me think of my grandmother on my moms side, she always wants to do something and be helpful, and when someone tells her she is a guest and shouldn't work, her response is "What are you saying, I'm at my son/daughter's house, I am not a guest". And I guess anytime I feel like somewhere is "home", I definitely treat it that way, my high school (PreK - 12), especially our Performing Arts Center was home, my dorm I'm in is home, my actual house is home, and I am heavily invested in all of them and how they are doing. I want them operating at their best, to not have issues, etc... It definitely is a responsibility.

Student #2 has left a new comment on your post "Phil Hettema: The basics of storytelling remain th...":

It's really great to hear someone from the themed entertainment industry talk about story before technology. I could see where it would be tempting for a sector more focused on entertainment and enjoyment to tend towards spectacle first. The story vs spectacle, function vs form balance is a big one in any narrative medium. As technology becomes more complex, it is tempting to want to use something new. I would say it is much harder and much more prone to failure to take a cool piece of technology or visual element and create a story that really flows from it than to have a story and then pick something that supports it. When you start with the technology in mind, it will always be your priority.

One issue with contemporary media design is that so many people have and do use media for spectacle or because it's new and cool. This sets up the notion that media is always a frill or decoration and it creates a perceived expectation that media should be flashy and gadget driven. It's certainly a hard balance to achieve when using the latest thing is tempting, but it curtails the respect of the discipline and the success of the storytelling.

Student #3 has left a new comment on your post "I’ll Disband My Roving Gang of Thirty Asian Playwr...":

It's interesting trying to rationalize why cultural plays are generally produced in smaller cultural theaters. Growing up in San Antonio I saw tons of "Latino" productions and never actually stopped to think about different cultural plays until I got here. I too would like to see cultural plays in larger theaters and would like to see color blind casting more, but I think a major obstacle in moving forward is that there are already tons of classic and popular plays that call for an all black cast or an all white cast that color-blind casting would change the whole story. Furthermore, I can understand why larger theaters with probably a predominately white audience would not put on a play like Seven Guitars which focuses on minority and racial issues with an all black cast. It isn't relatable for them. 
I'm not sure how to integrate theatre productions more, but I understand why it can be so difficult to move forward in this art.

Student #4 has left a new comment on your post "Are young workers brats or brilliant?":

It's not about conforming to us, it's about meeting us halfway and on agreeable terms. We will not work they way you worked when you were our age. As millennials, we are very well aware that we are entering a workplaces that have a wheel that no matter how much we want to reinvent it in 3 seconds, it won't happen. We come in with a sense that the older generation's mentality is "It's our world, and you're just living in it." Of course we want a company that can accommodate flexible hours, because we know we're entering a job market where job opportunities are a level of magnitude more scarce than when older generations started working. I also think that we've grown as a generation to be quick learners since nowadays we have to be adequate or better at a wider range of skills in order to make ourselves more marketable to whatever job opportunities we can find. Yes, the work ethic we have is a little different, and I know that that's sometimes hard to trust as someone who's very dead set in their ways or because you can't always go to the next office over and physically see that they're there working. Ultimately, we need the job that brings a cash flow so we can survive, we know we have to work hard and to our best to feel fulfilled in what we're doing, so we're going to do our best to keep that job. It may not show in our punch cards, but it does show in our contributions to the company.

Student #5 has left a new comment on your post "17 Pieces of Advice from ‘Inside the Actors Studio...":

It is so encouraging and warming to see so many great and well known actors talking to students about these timeless and inspirational ways of thinking about what they do. In many ways acting is such a difficult and tiring job to take on because actors have to find comfort-ability in discomfort. They have to transform into somethings sometimes completely opposite of who they are or what they believe in. Not to mention the countless blows against your opinion, ideas, and ultimately who you are as a person that come with countless rejections at countless auditions, as George Clooney so greatly puts. As you can imagine, it is very easy to lose hope that your talent will ever be recognized at all. It is also very easy to lose your passion for what you thought you loved. I know I have, more than once.

There is something that strikes a chord in me though, in the way that Meryl Streep puts why she acts. I always thought I'd act for myself, I'd get myself in the moment and live there truthfully and if anyone wanted to watch, great. When she says she does it to give a voice to those characters that don't have one, it makes me wonder how greatly an actor can influence a culture, a generation, or even a single misunderstood kid. It inspires me to know and understand all types of situations and unheard stories in the world, and let my flesh and blood be a vessel for those stories, clawing and screaming to be heard. To be all that there is in the world and give that knowledge of experience and feeling to an audience.

Maybe I agree, or maybe its hard not to be desperate to cling onto the quotes of great idols as I search for a love of acting. As Dustin Hoffman says, playing it safe is the greatest sin there is, and I couldn't agree more. Why limit yourself when it could be so much more freeing to strip yourself of everyday life superficial behavior and tell someone how you really feel. The stage is so great because that is exactly what you get to do. You get to behave completely and utterly natural with absolutely no judgment and no worry of judging another, because it's all a "play." It's real and in the moment, and that's the best part about it. You get to experience "unacceptable" things, things you'd never feel comfortable doing outside of theatre and broaden who you are as a person so you can be the best, most original, intelligent, most awesome version of you.

Well, I think this comment has helped me find out why I like to act!