By Lydia Yeshitla ’17, Staff Writer  

Due to Joe Sokolowski’s heightened interest in sports, the idea of participating in any art seemed to be the last thing that could possibly cross his mind. Between immersing himself in football in the fall and lacrosse in the spring, Joe knew the challenge to balance time between sports, arts, and school would be a very difficult task.

Yet, Joe didn’t let this conflict prevent him from pursuing his passion for acting, which he discovered early in the 5^th grade. Joe decided to take on acting since he considered it “a fun, new thing to try.” Ever since then, he was determined to make it big in Middle School, and continued to participate in plays from then on. His first major role in his acting career was when he performed in “King Henry the IV” in the 7^th grade, as one of the lead roles as Lord Harry Percy. Later in the 8^th grade, he performed in “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and qualified for a role, which he humbly refers to as “a minor one” compared to his previous roles.

Joe’s journey was not very easy: initially, there were some challenges. Joe was not used to performing in front of a large audience. When he first started acting, he admits that he was “nervous to perform in front of other people.” However, with the help of his Middle School acting teacher, he was able to face his fears. Joe considers his Middle School acting teacher his motivator since he “taught [him] how to enjoy acting.” Given that his acting teacher was “the funniest person [he] has ever met,” he was able to get rid of his fear of performing in front of large crowds. Throughout the years spent with his acting teacher, he eventually was “excited to act and participate in something new, other than sports.”

After Middle School, Joe continued to pursue his interest at the Academy by engaging in the Winter Musical, “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Once again, he strived to get one of the leads and successfully achieved his goal. Joe qualified as Leaf Coneybear, a red-haired boy with a constantly confused expression on his face. As a contestant in the Spelling Bee, Leaf is easily distracted and even breaks into singing when he doesn’t know how to spell a word.

Joe’s pursuit of acting, despite his other interests, serves as a lesson for the student body here at Newark Academy. As busy as he is with homework, sports, and the arts, how can he possibly balance all three? Joe emphasizes that there is always time to pursue a variety of interests. After discussing Joe’s successes in the past, the big question was if he would continue acting next year. Joe discloses that, “[he] will happily be trying out for the musical next year, and after that, too.” We can’t wait to see where his hard work will take him after High School. For those interested in Joe’s next milestone, Newark Academy’s Winter Musical “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” was performed February 27th- March 1st!