Texas A&M University freshman general engineering student Shane Duckett always liked learning about physics in high school. He also enjoyed participating in musicals. In the Bryan/College Station area, he has found a way to explore both passions.
Duckett, from Deer Park, Texas, is interested in pursuing mechanical engineering or computer science and engineering. While he is still exploring his major options, he also was introduced to the theater scene in the area.
After his first audition at The Theatre Company in Bryan, Duckett is now performing as the title role in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” which opened two weeks ago. He had considered auditioning for an earlier show in the season but was too busy. While he said he’s still really busy, he said he was tired of not doing shows.
“I definitely plan on doing much more next year now that I have a little bit of a taste of it,” Duckett said.
Balancing his time has been a challenge. Not only has he been going to rehearsal every day for the musical, Duckett is also a member of the Singing Cadets, a premier men’s chorus now in its 114th touring season at Texas A&M.
"It's been very difficult mainly because the Singing Cadets alone is more time consuming than all of my classes combined,” Duckett said. “Those two plus Joseph, which is at least three hours of rehearsal a day, it's just a lot of time management. But it's something that I really enjoy doing, singing and acting, so to me it's all worth it even if I don't have much free time.”
Duckett said including extracurricular activities has made his college experience much more enjoyable because meeting people is easier.
“I haven’t really made any friends in my classes, at least close friends, but the organizations I’m in, because I’m around them so much, I have made close friends,” Duckett said.
Duckett said being involved in an extracurricular activity that meets regularly can be a good way for students to learn how to cooperate with other people.
“There’s engineering classes that make you do that with our labs, but with the Singing Cadets, you meet everyone and you get to know everyone in the group within two weeks,” he said. “You have to cooperate with everyone. I think it’s really necessary that you don’t just do school work and maybe one tiny organization. It’s necessary to get to know people because you never know what kind of connections you can make for your future.”