Lakewood Legacies – Antonio de Jesus

While most of my peers in high school generally knew the directions they were going in, I myself knew less of what it was that I initially wanted to do or what college I wanted to eventually go to.

Somewhere around the last year and a half, though, while sifting through career ambiguity, I discovered how much I cherished theatre and the friendships within Barnstormers and all the choirs I managed. I loved photographing those friendships too. Documenting everything. Theatre to me, or at least the time, met this consistency in meeting people that were really going to change your life all while in the process of making something beautiful together. Like a play or a musical. Or the sets for those plays and musicals.

Ultimately, it had been the environments that Mr. Farinelli & Ms. Sabin cultivated, and the traditions of the Barnstormers, that, in my short time at Lakewood, inspired the dreams I chase today. The same can be said for the theatre families and best friends I made at Kent State. Every so often you get reaffirmations in the form of the people you meet.

Today, though with still some schooling left to do (sort of educationally displaced right now due to the pandemic), I am a proud actor and film photographer. That is my world. Inspired by my love for theatre and photographing friends. Soon enough, I hope to move to New York City, as it is a focal point for the work I love to do. It is my hope that money made from any sorta acting career can fund not just my livelihood, but my passion for film photography.

By the way I still talk with Miss Sabin, she lets me borrow books and clothes for projects and ideas.