Testimonials

"As an actor, artist, and person, Texas State University’s BFA Acting program has been more rewarding than I could have ever dreamed. I am beyond thankful to have experienced first-hand the unique process by which this school develops its students. First, in selecting small classes of students who are diverse in strength, background, thought, and interests, but similar in that each are kind, thoughtful, motivated, and talented to the highest degree, Texas State creates a culture of work, support, and constant betterment. This program has become a place of safety where I have felt able to explore work that is difficult, even frightening in its vulnerability, but the most fulfilling in the end. Courses designed to take advantage of the closeness of each class of students have pressed me further than I thought I could go, taught me to dig deeper than I knew was possible, and reworked my entire outlook not only on art, but on life. I now see the world through a lens of greater humanity, and every opportunity to live is also one to grow, experience, and absorb as an artist. The faculty here have believed in and come to know me as an individual as well as team-mate to my peers, and in doing so have been able to guide me so that I have made enormous strides in my skills onstage, and become a more thoughtful, compassionate, and insightful person offstage. I am ready to enter this industry and confident in my ability to work consistently and well, without losing my joy for what I do, as so often happens with artists who are not given the level of training in exploration and creation as I was given here. I owe a huge “thank you” to the Texas State BFA Acting program!"

- JaVaun Butler, Class of 2022

"I have been totally transformed while studying in the Texas State University BFA Acting program. I like to think I was a good actor when I graduated from high school, but I had no idea how much more I could ask of myself until it was expected of me by my professors. The faculty here have given me a way of working that is reliable and intelligent. I have learned to trust myself, strengthened and grown my imagination, learned that there are no boundaries to my creativity, and practiced and developed a method of approaching roles that will serve as my map in my post-graduate career. I had no idea I was capable of feeling as alive onstage as I do now, and living so earnestly and honestly in the skin of a character. That high school actor has been humbled by how far I have come, and is excited by the prospect of being a forever student of the theatre. I am not afraid to enter this industry, because I am leaving Texas State with the tools to navigate a field that continuously changes, connections that have already proved useful in my professional work, a community of peers that I can count on for love and support, and an education of invaluable knowledge and experience. I am so grateful to Texas State University’s BFA Acting program."

- Miranda Marquez, Class of 2024

"To an extent, most students have an idea of what to expect from a BFA Acting program - we anticipate grueling classes, unjaded industry insight, and the highest quality of productions so that we may experience what it is to be joyfully exhausted at the end of a long work day. However, to say the BFA Acting program at Texas State University checks these boxes and no more would be an insult to the phenomenal work being done here by faculty and students alike. The Texas State Acting program is unlike other BFA programs nationwide. Instead of declaring a method by which all students must learn to adhere and churning out cookie-cutter graduates, Texas State Acting is putting the power of artistry in the hands of its students, giving them tools so that they may know how to think, teach, learn, observe, create, express, fail, and grow on their own for a lifetime - instilling resilience, passion, and discipline in each student along the way. Here, there is a level of focus and love for this artform that transcends learning how to be an excellent actor (and we are most certainly learning that!) and connects to the heart of the community and world around us. Texas State Acting is doing more than merely making great performers - it is making great artists. "

- Maxwell Hanesworth, Class of 2024