The Decree
since 1960 “of, by, andfor the Wesleyan community. ”
April 30, 2019
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA 27804
Graduates Reflect on Time at Wesleyan, Look to New Challenges
By Chasadie Searcy
Decree Staff Writer
As the semester ends, seniors are getting
ready for their last goodbyes. Following
graduation on May 4, they will be heading
in various directions to take on their respec
tive careers and accomplish specific goals.
Following are mini-profiles on some seniors
who will be leaving Wesleyan this spring.
WeslieYoung
Weslie Young, a sociology major with a
minor in sports administration, was a star bas
ketball player on Wesleyan’s women’s team.
The forward-center averaged 8 rebounds and
6 points per game last season, while earning
honors as a scholar-athlete from the USA
South Conference as well as Wesleyan.
Since the end of her final hoops season,
Young’s been focusing on getting ajob in
social work or a
related position
in government.
She said her field
is so broad that
for now she's
keepingherop
tions open. While
working, she
intends to apply
to various gradu
ate programs. Weslie Young
Likemany
students. Young said she'll miss her friends
the most. She said she's relished the fact that
so many friends live in proximity to her on
campus. She noted that she’s still close with
many of the friends she made during her
freshman year. They helped to make her four'
years at Wesleyan memorable. "They’D be in
my wedding one day,” she said. She added
that she’D miss her teammates and the team
For Theatre Seniors, ‘Proof’ Is in the Collaboration
Four Wesleyan students produced
and starred in a three-performance
run of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play
“Proof’ at Powers Recital Hall in April.
With direction from Wesleyan instructor
DaneDe Cauley, the play represented a collab
orative effort by seniors Dakota Casey, Anna
Dick, Savannah Flanagan and Trey Russell.
Set in an old Chicago home, “Proof’
focuses on the relationships of four char
acters—Robert (Casey), a brilliant math
professor with mental problems; Catherine
(Flanagan), his care-taker daughter with
talent, academic aspirations and possible
mental issues of her own; Hal (Russell),
one of Robert's former students whose two
passions include math and Catherine; and
Claire (Dick), Catherine’s take-charge older
sister. Including flashbacks, the play takes
place over a couple days around Robert’s
death and funeral.
The four Wesleyan seniors were inter
viewed by the Decree following the April
6 matinee performance. Their responses
have been edited for brevity.
Q. Why did you four want to work to
gether? And what attracted you to “Proof?”
DC: We had some entertainment cours
es together as a group. When one of us
found “Proof,” we decided to do it because
the cast, set, and environment fit well.
AD: We’ve been in productions together
and at first we thought we’d do a musical
called "Romance, Romance" or a produc
tion of “Green Bird.” After meeting with Ms.
Cauley and Mr. (Professor Roger) Drake,
we decided on “Proof.” Even though it had
already been done at Wesleyan, we decided to
go with the play because we had such a small
cast of seniors to produce a show.
SF: Wc all wanted to do a play because our
theatre department hasn’t been able to do a lot
of full- length shows. I wanted to leave my
mark and perform one last time. 11 iked “Proof’
because it gave all four of us a role and suited
our production needs. The story jumped out to
me, and I wanted to share it with the community.
TR: I knew I wanted my senior project to
be a production. I loved acting (as Perchik)
in “Fiddler on the Roof’ and other produc
tions. At first I considered performing in a
one-man show and focusing on my acting,
but when I realized that the other three
seniors were looking to do production work
for their project, it just made sense to col
laborate. We’re all actors, but we've also had
dynamic from the past four years.
The Maryland native said she enjoyed liv
ing in the South and away from home. What
she won't miss is waking up for morning
classes. “Classes and the school work were
fine,” she said, noting that the workload was
heavy at times. “It’s the getting up for classes
that I won’t miss," she added with a smile.
As for her indebtedness level, Young said
she’s obligated to pay off only one “small loan.”
She expressed gratitude for the scholarships and
grants that covered the rest of her tuition.
Asked to offer advice to underclassmen, she
urged them to make the most of every day. “Go to
class and be active on campus,” she said. “It's im
portant to get serious in your first two years. The
better you do, the better off you’D be in the long
run. You won’t need play catch up at the end.”
ShreyaTharkuri
Shreya Tharkuri, a double major in busi
ness and computer information systems,
just earned an “Outstanding Student” award
from the business administration program.
After graduation, the Nepal native plans to
work in information technology or help under
privileged children in her native country as part
of a United Nations initiative. Her long-term
goal is to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science.
Tharkuri is from the Nepal capital
of Kathmandu. She reports that she’s
from a royal family and can be consid
ered a princess (Her father’s family are
descendants of the royal family, but be
cause Nepal isn’t a monarchy, her title
doesn’t hold much weight, she said.).
A member of the coDege's dance team for
the past two years, Tharkuri said her Wesleyan
friends have become her family and Wesleyan is
Iter "home away from home.” “It’s not the place,
but the people that make the place," she said.
Among her most enduring memories was
Cast of "Proof" l-r Anna Dick, Dakota Casey, Savannah Flanagan and Trey Russell C.Lewis Photo
the opportunity to be designers and stage
managers and directors and all the other
roles of a production, so a collaborative
production became the most exciting option.
In many ways "Proof' was perfect. It was
a fuff-length play with a cast of four actors,
two male and two female, a unit set, and con
temporary costumes. It allowed for enough
room for design and technical opportunities
without presenting insurmountable chal
lenges. The story resonated with us as well.
Q. Besides performing in the play, detail
all the other functions you performed in the
lead-up, etc.
DC: I was head of set construction and
lighting design. I served as production
manager, supervised the volunteers, and
handled the timeline for striking the set.
AD: I was in charge of getting the costuming
together as well as the furniture and the props.
SF: I did the dramaturgy (historical
research) and handled the advertising. But
just like in any true collaborative theatre
experience, I helped in every area. I helped
with building the set and working on props.
TR: Short answer: artistic director, pro
duction manager, assistant stage manager,
sound designer, set construction crew.
Q. At your busiest, how many hours a
week did you invest in the project?
DC: Fifty-seven hours was my longest week.
AD: At my busiest I spent 30-ish hours
during tech week working on the show. A
non-busy week was like 10 hours.
SF: It's really hard to figure out hours! Dur
ing the two weeks before the show opened, I
spent every spare minute with my script between
classes and every night. I believe during tech
week I spent weft over 30 hours on the show.
TR: My busiest week was tech week/
performance week. I invested close to
the coDege's first Global WesFest. It was dur
ing her junior year and her friends had worked
extra hard to make it a huge success. During
the event, she did a presentation on her home
country and taught others about her culture,
which gave her a sense of accomplishment.
Tharkuri came to NCWC as a transfer
student from East Central University (the
other ECU) in Oklahoma. Due to the
appealing professor-to-student ratio at
Wesleyan, she's glad she made the decision
to switch schools. While here, she received
scholarships that included a presidential
honors scholarship, an international schol
arship, a transfer student scholarship, as
well as a dance stipend. She reports that she
must only pay off one semester’s tuition.
She encouraged younger students to "step
out of your comfort zone. You shouldn’t
worry about what others think.”
Tharkuri regrets that she didn’t take
more risks in her years at Wesleyan.
"The time flies, so enjoy it," she said.
Sheriff Secka
A captain on the soccer team, Sheriff
Secka is graduating with a major in sociol
ogy and a minor in political science.
After graduation, Secka would like to
continue playing "the beautiful game.” If a
professional soccer career fails to material
ize, he plans to attend graduate school or
seek ajob with either the African Union or
the United Nations, in a position that will
allow him to work in international affairs.
The Maryland native was an attacking mid
fielder on the Wesleyan team, scoring 17 career
goals. He earned a senior award, and in 2017,
the team won USA South tournament and
advanced to the NCAA playoffs. That team
was 15-6 and 10-1 hi conference matches.
He admitted to a little sadness that his
30 hours that week between rehearsals,
performances, load-in/set build, and last-
minute solutions to production issues.
Q. What was your most anxious moment,
either prior to or during the performance?
DC: The most panic I experienced was the
final week of set assembly. The Dunn Center
booked two last-minute events in our space,
limiting our ability to move in the set and other
items and utilize the time we needed to build.
AD: My most anxious moment was the
week right after spring break because I stiff
hadn't gotten all my lines memorized. I was
wonied that I wouldn't be off book. We also
had problems finding the right furniture pieces
and there were costuming issues. There are
so many elements that make the show come
together. It always seems like a struggle in the
beginning, but it aff comes together in the end.
SF: During one of the performances I had
two prop malfunctions that had me panicking!
We were lucky that it didn’t affect the perfor
mance and the audience wasn’t aware of the
problems. It just gave me a heart attack!
TR: The most anxious moment was the
week leading up to the performances. Because
we were working on so many different jobs
with the production, it was overwhelming to
try and balance all of our production tasks with
learning fines and working on our acting work.
It was difficult in the early technical rehearsals
to switch to “actor mode” when we were the
designers and artistic directors of the show.
Q. What was most challenging about your role?
AD: What was most challenging about
Claire was how much I related to her on a
personal level. I’m an older sister myself. In
general, it was challenging for me to think in
■ ‘actor mode’' separate from ‘ ‘producer mode.’'
SF: Catherine is so complex. I was worried
that my performance would come off as just
four-year career has ended. “I'll miss my
dawgs (friends) the most,” he said, adding
that he enjoyed meeting and connecting
with Bishops—teammates and non-athletes—
from different
cultures.
On this list of
things he won’t
miss are “waking
up for 8 a.m.
classes,” the caf
eteria food, and
15-page papers.
The recipient
of scholarships
covering haff of Sheriff Secka
his college tuition
and expenses, Secka joked that he hopes to
win the lottery to pay off the balance of his
debt. “Then I can pay them (loans) off all at
once,” he said.
He related that he once considered
transferring to a different school, but that
he’s glad he stayed at Wesleyan. He felt
that the small campus and small class sizes
were integral to his success.
He advised underclassmen to focus on
their classes, to stay on "top of their work,”
and seek help when it’s needed. "Get
involved and stay involved.” he added.
Kayla Lavan
It's hard to imagine a student packing
more into her four years at Wesleyan.
Graduating senior Kayla Lavan double-
majored in chemistry and biology and earned
a “double minor’’ in math and environmental
science. She was a member of the dance
team and tutored peers in math and sci
ence. She held various jobs around Rocky
Mount—at Dunkin Donuts and Books-A-
Million—to supplement her scholarships.
a sad and crazy girl. I wanted to make sure
that the audience saw her as an intelligent and
strong young woman while making them
aware of how the horrible circumstances of
her life affected her.
TR: For me, it was creating strong, clear
relationships with Robert and Claire because
I interact with them less. Catherine and I play
multiple scenes together, but it was more
challenging to build a relationship with Claire
as we had only one scene together. This was
the most rewarding aspect of playing Hal.
Q. In your opinion, which night's
performance was best?
DC: The final performance.
AD: I think closing night was the best, just
because we gave it the last little push we needed
and it really turned out to be a great show!
SF: I'm very partial to the opening night.
The audience’s energy was amazing. It was
tire moment of truth. It was a magical expe
rience to share our project with an audience.
TR: Each night’s performance was different, but
it’s hard to pick one as the “best.” Different audi
ences exude different energy. The theatre experience
is adapting to the audience’s reactions and perform
ing the work as if it’s the first time it’s been done.
Q. Describe Ms. Cauley as a director.
DC: She’s a very efficient, straightfor
ward, and honest director who will do all
she can to get you as far as she can.
AD: She will push you to a place. It might
make you a little uncomfortable, but it’s always
the place you need to go. From her, I learned
some more in-depth relaxation methods for
actors as well as physical and vocal warm ups.
She gave us different ways to work. She gave
us choices for approaching a scene and let us
make our own acting decisions.
SF: Danelle uses the Stanislavski
method of acting and coaching. There was
no method acting on that stage. She led us
to become the characters by thinking their
thoughts and understanding the motives.
Q. How will completing your project
help you in the future, whether it's an
acting career or other facets of your life?
DC: This may be the final piece of theater
in my life. I’m entering a history graduate
program. The project’s helped me to handle
responsibility, developed my managerial
experience, and honed my public speaking
ability. My theater experience has taught me a
lot about construction, lighting, and painting—
skills I can use as a future home owner.
See PROOF pg 2
The Raleigh native's immediate post-
graduation plan is to work and save money
while applying to various graduate programs.
Lavan said her best memory was a
week-long trip taken to Bermuda by the
college’s cheer and dance teams, where
the Bishops made numerous beach visits
and won first place in a major competition.
Graduation will be "a bittersweet'’ event for
Lavan, who said she'D miss her friends and the
campus that has become home the past four
years. “I grew a lot as a person here," she said.
What she won't miss are the “nasty
caf food” and spending all of her free
time completing her homework.
Lavan said she appreciates the scholarship
money that she received from the college.
She reports that she graduates debt-free.
The senior urged underclassmen to
work hard and "be proactive in getting
the opportunities you want.”
Ben Dorfman
Ben Dorfman loves football.
"If I’m not lifting. I’m hitting the
field,” he said.
Though he graduates in May with a de
gree in organizational administration (sports
concentration), the Charlotte native still has
one year of eligibility' left. He’s exploring the
possibility of enrolling in one of Wesleyan’s
new graduate programs, which would allow
the USA-South first-team tight end to play
for the Bishops in the 2019 season.
After he leaves Wesleyan, Dorfman plans to
continue his education, with hopes of securing a
graduate assistantship, which would permit him
to pursue his passion tor football as a coach.
While Dorfman said he will miss his
teammates after he’s gone, he criticized
the Wesleyan students who lack ambition
and drive, attending coDege only because
“it’s expected of them." He’s eager to leave
behind such negative influences, he said.
Asked to name his favorite Wesleyan
memory, Dorfman recalled the first football
game of last fall, against Thomas More Col
lege. Predicted to lose by two touchdowns,
the Bishops won 35-28, as Dorfrnan hauled
in four passes for 72 yards, one a 31 -yard
touchdown catch.
Dorfman said he’s glad he attended Wes
leyan. “Absolutely!” he exclaimed, crediting
Coach Jeff Filkovski for recruiting him and
helping to make his time at the college both
profitable and enjoyable.
He related that he is graduating without
student loan debt, due to the scholarships and
grants he received while enrolled at Wes
leyan. He’s grateful to his parents for helping
him make up the balance.
As he looks to the May 4 graduation cer
emony, Dorfman offered the following advice to
underclassmen: "Find something you like and
stick to it. Apply yourself. Don’t just skate by;
try to get something out of what you do. Look
for improvement in your work and make the
most out of everything. As the saying goes, ‘If
you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.”’
(Editor's Note: The Decree will feature more
seniors from the traditional-day program, as well
as ASPIRE graduates, in its May issue.)
Sophomore Beth Braswell was
named to the first team of the USA
South Conference after she hit .323
with 8 home runs and 30 RBIs. As
an anchor of the pitching staff, she
posted a 2.08 ERA and led the team
with 12 wins and 116 strikeouts in
114 innings. For sports coverage,
turn to pages 3 and 4. SI photo