Mya Piccione
During her sophomore year in high school, Mya Picciones's piano teacher, who was also the high school choir and theatre director, recruited her to play for the choir. Eventually, it led Piccione to join the choir and perform in the theatre at Indian Creek High School, south of Indianapolis.“I was really shy,”she explained. “But as soon I got on stage, it clicked.”
Piccione’s favorite role in high school was playing the character Gertrude McFuzz in the musical Seussical, based on the children’s stories of Dr. Seuss. “I grew the most in that role,” she explained. “It's more like an opera where the dialogue is all sung.” In addition, she played doubles on her high school tennis team in Morgantown, Ind.
The 2018 Herbert Scholar so loved her theatre experience in high school that she’s decided to be a theatre performance major at IU South Bend. “I really love getting on
stage, and expressing a totally different person,” she commented. “I hope to be a director someday. I love watching things come together in theatre.”
Piccione has found IU South Bend and especially the theatre department very welcoming. “As soon as I committed to IU South Bend, theatre majors reached out to welcome me,” she explained. “That’s the beauty of a smaller program.”
Like other Herbert Presidential Scholars, the scholarship validated her hard work in high school and offered new opportunities for her in college. “I could really imagine myself at IU South Bend,” she said. “The scholarship gives me the freedom to focus on the experiences I want to have here.”