Acting allows students to bring characters to life and demonstrate their talent. Being a performer shows gratitude and confidence as students are given the chance to express themselves through performances. Students are giving themselves a pat on the back. What makes acting interesting for students who have an interest is having the ability to convey storytelling through writing and developing character. But it is much more fascinating for college students to notice their acting skills as it helps them in many ways.
Yet the most important thing about acting is having a passion for it. Acting can be at a higher level for students if they have a passion for it.
Mercy University graduate Sami Milad is an example of treating the art of acting as a passion and perfecting the craft of the world of acting. Having passion since childhood, Milad has always wanted to be an actor. Milad was 18-years-old when enrolling at Mercy University. After studying for four years and obtaining his bachelor’s degree, his passion for acting was at an all-time high. Yet, the situation at the time was difficult for him to push further into his career.
Milad explains his journey as an aspiring actor at the time during his Mercy days was laborious. It was a struggle for Milad, starting as an actor with no experience and having a halt navigating his career. Yet giving up was not in his vocabulary as he kept on pushing and figuring out answers on what to do for his career.
Juggling his studies and figuring out when to start as an actor was a challenging task to deal with at the time of his college career. Being a college student consists of attending class and obtaining and retaining information learned from classes.
Studying except for exams and assignments is how individuals make it, but being a student can also be challenging. That was the life Milad had to navigate as a student. Doing all of that as a student while also being an actor fresh to the game had been rough for Milad.
He explains his days attending classes while also being an actor.
Milad explained, “Being a student is not just going to class. You have to go to class. You have to study. Balance projects. Study for exams. It is like acting, and you do not just go to auditions. You must submit self-tapes so I can do auditions from my dorm room. At times, I would walk around campus when I started asking random students. I will say, ‘Yo, can you help me record this audition.'”
“I just had to find a way to juggle both worlds, and the only way I can do it is honestly give up much of my social life. But it was worth it, and hopefully, make this a thing.”
Acting is an illustrious career people can pick up on, yet the career can be very tough to handle. Milad, back then, found it hard to deal with the pressures of starting as an actor. Many aspiring actors have dealt with the same thing Milad has been through. Yet, it matters how the individual can deal with it. Milad figured out how to beat the system and make things easier for himself. Having to drop his social life for a career he still enjoys is understandable in his case. Friends hang around, yet Milad will stay behind to avoid distractions.
“Those were sacrifices I had to make.”
“I love the craft. I love the art of being someone figuring out their life through text on a piece of paper. Going on this journey was hell. I have met interesting people. I have met characters that I am borderline insane because, going into the industry, you meet a lot of genuine people and people that are weird, yet you still must work with them on set, so you must mingle with them. I believe acting has given me a purpose in my life.”
A lot of people, in general, want to go for the safe drop, he says. “Oh, I want to be an engineer, a businessperson, or a lawyer. Just by listening to how they talk about it, you know they do not want to go to that thing. But they do it because of how society programs them. Believe it is supposed to be the safer job, but when you are lucky enough to find what you want to do on this planet that you are passionate about, I would not want to take that for granted.”
Milad sees success as suffering because, in life, the only way people succeed is by falling into the depths of failure. That way, people can learn from the mistakes they have made in the past and learn from it. Milad has been in the same boat dealing with struggles as an actor, but having the gift of understanding struggle allowed him to keep his dreams alive. People will have goals and dreams and cannot enter the finish line without going through the pain.
Milad had been through something before, but despite the pain coursing through his career, he was given a purpose and the direction to continue his career. He knew he wanted to do this, and nothing would prevent him.
But what makes Milad’s craft of acting fascinating is his skills picked up from musicians. He is a fan of icons such as Freddie Mercury. Artist The Weeknd. Listening to artists and watching movies every day made his acting skills get better day by day.
Also, meeting famous actor Jake Gyllenhaal in his acting journey was a great day for him. Having the passion for years and witnessing 2014’s film “Nightcrawler” made Milad respect and become a fan of Jake’s work and performance. Having the opportunity to meet the actor grew more love and passion for the world of acting.
Currently, Milad has everything figured out in the sense of sealing his faith in being an actor. He enjoys the career he is in, and even though the learning process is still there with how far his career can go, he still believes he has the passion for something that benefits the person.
He is currently working on a short film that expressed a deep interest in Hollywood. With nothing to slow him down, he is going to see the journey through to the end.
“I do not want to be like, you know what, this is too hard. I could go and be a businessperson. Because in life, whatever you do, you will struggle.”
