High school is all about figuring out what you want to do and who you want to be. Each person is different and finds themselves through their talents in different things. For senior Jackson Guidry, it is theater and choir.
He has done both choir and theater all four years of high school and has been in a total of eight shows and three different choir ensembles. In the last year, Jackson has been in the fall play, Parfumerie; the musical, The Secret Garden; Concert Choir and Madrigals, in which he is this year’s Madrigal King.
Jackson first became interested in performing arts when his older brother, Andrew Guidry, did MidKnight Special and musicals in middle school and some of high school. It has since become a way for him to express himself.
“I think it became important to me because I realized the friendship connections you can make during that and how it’s all one community when you go through all those years of doing choir and theater and everything,” Jackson said.
If you have ever seen a play, musical or choir concert with Jackson Guidry in it, you can probably tell who he is right away. He has a great stage presence that just demands that you pay attention to his character no matter how big or small the role is.
“He is so good at theater. He’s great at singing, acting and dancing,” senior Abby Fitts said. “So great at that. I think it’s definitely that thing that keeps him involved. it’s a way he can express. I think that’s a great outlet for him honestly, especially since he is so good at it.”
Both choir and theater have very close-knit communities as it is the same select people each year. Although people graduate and new people arrive, they all are bonded by their common interests. The friendships many people make are long lasting, even after high school.
“I think it has made me more of a social person in general. Not to say I was ever really super introverted, but at a time I definitely was more scared to be social with people. And I think doing that and getting out of my comfort zone, doing things that are not what I would normally do, over the years has made me more social,” Jackson said.
Connections between theater kids extend beyond just one high school. Many people know people from different schools all pulled together through their love of theater in different programs and community plays.
Important people in your life help a lot to make you the person that you are. They influence the choices you make and who other people perceive you to be. Family and friends are important factors in most people’s lives, be it for better or worse. Jackson has a support system filled with family and friends that matters to him very much.
“I think number one is always family, because of the way you grew up around them and how they form you as a person,” Jackson said. “A very close second is my friends. The people you surround yourself with, and for me because I think the most important thing is to surround yourself with people that are good and support you and are always there for you.”
Jackson has many friends from different parts of his life. He is known as a funny, creative, optimistic and social guy who is fun to be around.
“He’s very silly. He’s very optimistic and he’s almost always in a good mood when I see him, so he always cheers me up and always cheers up my friends. I don’t know how he maintains that personality all the time, but he does a good job at doing it,” Fitts said.
Senior Abby Grams has been friends with him since their sophomore year. They both enjoy singing and are in both Madrigals and Concert Choir together this year.
“One of my favorite memories with him was when [he] and I went to Europe last summer for Madrigals,” Grams said. “We went to Latvia, Estonia and Finland. He was my buddy the whole trip. I’d just say that that entire trip with him, whether it be the nine-hour plane ride sitting next to him, or watching the sunset together, or getting coffee and walking around, and singing with him too.”
Jackson is graduating from Kaneland this spring. He is going to attend Waubonsee Community College for two years. After that he will transfer to a four-year college, with his top choice being North Central College.
After college, he wants to get a job in music production. It isn’t that he wants to create the music. He’d rather help produce the music made by others.
“I really hope he is still doing theater in some way. I’m sure he’ll probably have a stable job by then. He’ll probably still be silly, still be goofy. I hope that he doesn’t close down his personality for anyone. [I hope he remains] an optimistic, goofy guy,” Fitts said.
High school is all about figuring yourself out and who you wish to be now and for the rest of your life. You can make friends you hold on to for the rest of your life.
“I just want to be someone who not only can maintain a social life, friends, having a family and everything,” Jackson said. “Keeping people close but also having a driving passion for whatever I end up doing and really enjoying that. Obviously everybody wants that, but it’s important to enjoy what you do so that’s definitely something I want to be.”
Although he has a plan for his future, Jackson recognizes that other paths may appear to him.
“I have no idea what paths I might be taken down because I have other interests too, things that I would be comfortable doing. Like photography or things like that, so if that’s what it is I’d be okay, but definitely something that is fulfilling me creatively. I think that would have to be in my life somehow.”
