We sat down with stage manager, Gateway mentor, and first-time USITT-attendee Ross Jackson at USITT 2018 in Fort Lauderdale to discuss first-time jitters, sound advice, and the importance of mentorship for those in underrepresented communities. The Gateway Program is now accepting nominations for USITT 19. Hear about the experience from Ross’ point of view and nominate your best-fitting candidate for Gateway 2019.

What has your first USITT Conference been like so far?

I’m really, really enjoying it. I think that the first word that I started to use was “overwhelmed” and then I realized really it was “overjoyed.” Just because there’s so much community here. And I didn’t expect to see as many people that I know. Like every time I turn a corner I’m seeing somebody familiar. Which is really amazing because I don’t feel like I’m out of town, I feel like I’ve just like gone out with a bunch of friends to this huge convention center and went to a conference.

Right, like a reunion?

Absolutely, yeah. My favorite part of this has been being a part of the Gateway Program.

Talk about your involvement with Gateway

I’m a mentor for the Gateway Program. Twelve students are selected. We tend to use the phrase “underrepresented community,” but I refer to them instead as resilient people, and we bring them to USITT and pair them with mentors that have similar backgrounds, similar experiences, and are focused in a similar area.

Since I am a black male stage manager, I was paired with a young black male stage manager by the name of Avery who is from Jackson, Mississippi. And I’m originally from New Orleans. So we have a lot in common there. Also, our family dynamics are really comparable and everything.

It’s the kind of thing to where I show up to be a mentor, and he shows up to be a mentee but we leave as brothers, which is really, really phenomenal.

Why is mentorship important to you?

I didn’t grow up with any access to arts education at all. I grew up with essentially the three options in New Orleans: get out, go to jail, or not live anymore. So, I did everything that I could to make sure that I didn’t have to resort to any of those three. I focused a lot on my education. I also didn’t have a lot of access to things.

I happened to fall into theatre because a couple of people believed in me. Not everybody gets that kind of trust, that kind of respect, depending on where they’re coming from. I think that mentorship, especially for someone as a person of color providing mentorship to someone else who is a person of color, is really effective. I’ve always believed that the message being delivered to a person of color by the vessel through which is a person of color is far more effective.

This is my opportunity to say I’ve been able to do the things that I want to do, and I get to go to work and do what I love every day, so let me pass that on to you so that you get to do the same.

Any advice for first-time Gateway Program participants or someone attending USITT for the first time?

It’s kind of emotional for me, but the best piece of advice that I ever got was, “Leap, and the safety net will appear.” Don’t wait for the safety net, don’t put up the safety net yourself, don’t plan for the safety net, just leap. If you need the safety net, it’ll be there, but nine times out of 10 you’re going to soar.

It was said by a mentor of mine from undergrad, Yslan Hicks, who’s now the chair of the drama department at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, which is where I did my undergrad. USITT actually reconnected me with her for the first time in about four or five years because she happened to be here!

What is one thing that you want your Gateway mentee, Avery, to take away from this experience?

One thing that I keep repeating to Avery over and over again, and that he’s repeated back to me a couple of times, is to just trust yourself. That whatever decision you make isn’t ever really the wrong decision because you learn something. Maybe the lesson isn’t the greatest lesson, but maybe you needed to learn that lesson.

It kind of goes hand in hand with that idea of “leap and the safety net may appear,” but at the same time, it’s just about trusting yourself and making decisions that are the right decisions for you as a human being. Do not lose your humanity behind the job description.

Interested in nominating or being nominated for the Gateway Program? Get the details.