Some think that studying the arts, a little or a lot, is the ticket to a life of debt and doubt. But a conversation with four Pitt-Bradford students, some of whom have sprinkled their studies liberally with the arts and one who has immersed himself completely, reveals that the arts produces more than artists: the arts also foster organization, discipline, creativity, communication, bravery and the ability to collaborate with others. That’s a pretty good list of the kinds of skills employers want in the 21st century.

Meet the artists:

Romaine Harrod

Romainne Harrod of Peoria, Ariz., “pronounced like the lettuce and the store in London,” a sophomore English education major with minors in theater and marketing. A born performer, she exudes confidence on and off the stage. Last year she performed in Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” and “The Man Who,” based on the work of clinical psychologist Oliver Sacks.

Lyndon Orinion

A.J. Laganosky is the quiet type. A soft-spoken senior from Carlisle, Pa., he came to Pitt-Bradford to study athletic training and will leave with a degree in interdisciplinary arts. A musician since fourth grade, he took his first art class as a sophomore at Pitt-Bradford and has discovered he’s also an artist and a teacher. His future plans now include a master of fine arts degree in art. But he hasn’t left his love of music behind. His dream job is to create art for bands. In December, he will have his own show in the KOA Art Gallery that includes original music compositions as well as art.

A.J. Laganosky

Lyndon Orinion, a junior computer engineering major from Washington, D.C., who has honed his organizing skills as president of the Student Activities Council and who manages his stress in part through hip-hop, break dancing and popping. He and some high school friends taught themselves to dance by watching tutorials and critiquing each other. “Sometimes I feel I’m the weird engineer,” he says.

Latdior Williams

Latdior Williams, a junior chemistry major from Newark, Del., who plays violin, viola, bass and trumpet and sings. He, like Orinion, is a member of the dance team and SAC, and has also enjoyed taking part in stage productions.

 Portraits: At Pitt-Bradford, there are limited opportunities to be an arts major, and jobs in the arts don’t really pay well, so why do you bother to be involved in the arts?
Latdior: We do have a small campus, but we do have a lot when it comes to student activities. We have an event every night until club night. We always have events. Interactive events.

Portraits: Most of you are involved in arts classes, but Lyndon, you’ve managed to pursue your interest in the arts outside of classes. What do you get out of the arts?
Lyndon: It’s a nice change of pace. In engineering, you’re doing chemistry, physics, math, calc. It gets monotonous.
Latdior: You’re breakin’ the mold, Lyndon, you’re breakin’ the mold.

Portraits: How do you think your involvement in the arts will help you?
Lyndon: As an engineer, you always work with a group, and you’re never by yourself. In SAC freshman year, I was a follower, and now as a junior, I’m one of the leaders. It’s definitely a good experience.

Portraits: Creativity is needed in all occupations
Lyndon: It definitely opened my mind to different ways of looking at things. If you have experience doing stuff, it helps.
Latdior: All throughout being little, I’ve always done music. I don’t remember when I haven’t played an instrument. Having that kind of musical upbringing -- that’s where my interest in the arts really started. In high school I never got to be in any of the plays, but I would be in the pit or on the stage crew.

Portraits: Was that a consideration when you came here? There isn’t a symphony.
Latdior: My mom supported my art when I was younger, but not as a career. She felt that music wasn’t the strongest choice for supporting yourself. She wanted me to have great security.
Romainne: I need variety in my life or I just go nuts. My mom’s always been supportive. Since I could talk, I’ve always loved to entertain people. That’s always been my thing. I didn’t want to have theater as my major because, unless Stephen Spielberg calls, it’s not a promising money-making career. But I still need to be involved. I still have to have it in my life.

Portraits: What about the idea that the arts are easy?
Latdior: Sophomore year in high school, I got a “C” in orchestra. My mom said, “How could you get a ‘C’? Isn’t that like your gym class?” Music is fun but on a different side. In music you have to do reports, and composing theory is hard.
A.J.: Latdior, you were a nursing major, I was an athletic training major first. Almost two years in, I switched. My parents were always really supportive of music and art. My sister wanted me to pick up an instrument so I picked up cello in fourth grade and switched to bass in sixth grade.
In first grade, for a Halloween party, I went as Dusty Hill (the bass guitar player) from ZZ Top. I wanted to be a bass player in a rock and roll band when I was a kid. It was that or a baseball player. My parents have always been supportive of both things in my life. They were actually kind of disappointed seeing me come here because there was no orchestra or jazz band that I could be a part of.

Portraits: Yet by being here, you discovered you had talent as an artist.
A.J.: I was interested in art and music still. Not so much art, because stick figures were about my talent. One of my friends directed me toward going into the interdisciplinary arts program.

Portraits: Did any of the rest of you find talent you didn’t know you had?
Lyndon: On SAC. I never did advertising in my life. Being creative, getting an opportunity to see what I could do. It just got better and better.
Latdior: The ability to push myself a little bit more. Some things I’m not necessarily good at, I just had to work on to make them better. Organization was one of them. Being in SAC helped me prioritize which activities to be involved in. You have to think about what you’re going to do instead of just doing it. You have to adjust to college, because it’s not high school.

Portraits: Are there ways in which you find the arts tying together in your life?
Latdior: In martial arts. Can you find your rhythm? It is a lot about rhythm when you’re sparring or competing with someone else. You’re able to find a rhythm for what you’re doing. If you get into your rhythm, then you usually have control of the competition.

Portraits: Romainne, what do you get out of theater?
Romainne: Theater – just doing it – even if you just join a theater course, it helps you to speak out and think in different ways.

Portraits: Are there other skills that you can take from arts into everyday life?
AJ:  Working on the arts mural (in Blaisdell Hall, see separate story) -- it was very difficult because I like working alone. In all of Kong Ho’s classes I always sat in the corner. Everybody else did their own thing over there. I’d go in early and by the time the class was done, I’d almost be done with my painting. And everybody else was just talking and doing what they were doing.
When I was working on the mural, other students were coming to me. They’d ask me what color would go into this mix. What color would go into that mix? It’s different. I’m not used to people coming to me for advice.

Portraits: So in the arts, getting the big idea across takes a lot of little details being performed successfully. Romainne, tell me about putting together a play.
Romainne: It’s so much work. I love it when we perform it and people say, “It’s so great.” I say, “It took us a whole semester to put this together, it better be great.”
It’s just rehearsals, rehearsals. People think it’s so easy and “you just have to read the lines” but no, you have to get into character and be believable when you’re portraying it.

Portraits: Is there something you’ve learned from that in terms of empathy for other people?
Romainne: Depending on the type of play you’re doing. Last semester we did “The Man Who.” It was all these mental disorders. When I read the script, I was like, “Oh I don’t get it,” and then when we had to perform, I’m like, “This is real. People live with this stuff.” I didn’t want to make it come across like I was just acting. I have to make this as heartfelt as possible. (Dr. Kevin Ewert, associate professor of theate) won’t just let you be like, “OK, you got the line down, you’re good.” He wants you to actually be inside that character and actually get into that mindset and stay there – don’t let that character drop. That’s another thing about theater It’s a good a challenge, just staying in character.

Portraits: Is it liberating to be someone else?
Romainne: Yeah, it’s like I’m gonna be crazy today, crazy for like 10 minutes on stage. And then walk away from it.
Lyndon: Being involved in arts you learn to appreciate what others do. You think about the concert going on. You think about what’s happening behind the scenes instead of just the concert. Dance wise, you think about how much work the dancers put into it. It doesn’t just come naturally. It’s hard work.
Romainne: It is.
Latdior: My little sister, she watches “America’s Best Dance Crew,” and she thinks they’re such good dancers because all of them can dance, all of them individually are such good dancers, that’s why they’re good together.
But I told her to think about her cheerleading. How even though everyone can do backflips and stuff, what would it look like if they never practiced together.
(Latdior explains how he and Lyndon have improved their dance through collaboration. There are a lot of hand motions involved in this explanation.)
I can talk with Lyndon about dance and each understands what the other means
We do like choreography because we do like to dance. Sometimes Lyndon will be in the studio or something and be like “wall,” and I know exactly what he means – he hit a wall and he was in the middle of his routine, and he just doesn’t know where to go next. So I’ll come over and say well, maybe you can transition to here. And then I’ll think I’ve done a good job, and he’ll say, “Oh that’s tight, but what if you were to go in and do this?” And I’ll be like, “Why didn’t we think of that?”
Lyndon: I definitely got much better learning from Latdior and Nick (Olumese, a junior, pre-physical therapy major from Fort Washington, Md.). Just having someone to constructively criticize you, it helps so much. When I first started dancing, which was like 10th or 11th’ grade, I didn’t have anyone to bounce off ideas from. Then coming here and meeting Nick and Latdior, and they loved dancing also. Just having them right next to you …”
Latdior: It gives you a benchmark. I know my style of dancing wasn’t as crisp as Lydon’s style of dancing, and I want that crispness, ’cause it looks real clean, but fluid at the same time. I’m still going to do it my way, but I want it to have a little of that sharpness to it.

Portraits: You have to put so much of yourself into an art, and by its very nature, you do it for someone to see it. You have to brave. Do you think it’s made you more willing to take a risk?
A.J.: I’m still not going to get up on a stage and talk in front of people.

Portraits: But you’re going to fill a whole room full of art and invite people in to see it while you’re there – that is very brave.
A.J.: And doing a live performance. I feel a lot more comfortable when I have an instrument in front of me.
But I find it very difficult to play alone. With music and with art, you have to collaborate together. If you really want people to see something that’s meaningful and heartfelt and that serves a purpose, it helps work together. That mural is a prime example.
We had people who were psychology majors who came in and had never picked up a paintbrush before.
And they are able to go up and show their friends, “Well I did this,” but it only looks like that because of what’s around it. Because of the contributions on campus.

Portraits: How are the arts viewed on campus?
Romainne: If you’re not a nursing major, people think, “you took the easy way out.”
At the end of the day, we need the arts, or what is the world? It’s blank. It’s boring. It’s structured, and I just think the arts let you be free and creative, and let you go places that you don’t get to go to otherwise.
Being involved in the arts helps you bring that creativity to your other disciplines.
A.J.: Being in the arts really brings the creativeness out. It also helps you if you get in a bind and you have to think fast on your feet. There’s always another method of getting to your goal. And if the one ways is blocked, I feel that art really helps you because you start thinking outside the box.

To see video from the student roundtable, visit Pitt-Bradford’s YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/uPittBradford.