Fun fact: Morgan Hrymack shares a birthday with Jonathan XIV.

Another fun fact: She’s a dog lover, which is one of the things that drew her to UConn, where therapy dogs visit dorms during finals week and canines routinely traverse campus on daily walks.

As an acting major, not only does the applause Hrymack receives at the end of a performance make her smile, so does the sight of a husky – even off campus. It’ll always remind her of days at UConn.

Why did you choose UConn?

I grew up about 20 minutes from campus. Because of that, UConn was a big part of my town’s culture – especially basketball. Everyone looked forward to the games and would be jealous if someone had signed memorabilia.

Then I talked with my high school music teacher and acting teacher, who is also an alumnus of UConn. They said there’s so much to UConn, with numerous different communities and an excellent fine arts program. After looking into the dramatic arts program, I realized how incredible it was with its training, opportunities, and integration of departments. I also saw UConn as a good challenge for me, because all my prior schools were very small. I eventually want to live in a city, so this was a chance for me to be around bigger groups of people and form an identity and connections through that environment.

What’s your major or field of study, and what drew you to it?

I am an acting BFA undergraduate, and I have always been drawn to acting. I started at 8 when I did my first musical at a summer camp and realized that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Some may find it odd to find something that early, but as I grew older, my passion only grew. With how competitive the performing arts can be, I knew that if I wanted to do it, I needed to commit, dive headfirst, and seek as many opportunities as possible, and I felt like UConn would be the next step toward that.

Did you have a favorite professor or class?

I loved so many of my classes but if I had to pick it would be stage dialects, stage combat, and Suzuki. My stage dialects class with Michael Kaplan was so much fun. I got to learn four different dialects/accents, and I got to utilize the dialects for some of my recent roles. Stage combat with Brad Frazier was interesting, because you had to learn how to create an illusion of a physical conflict on stage while ensuring the safety of your scene partner. Finally, Suzuki (a Japanese acting technique) with Kristin Wold taught me to get me out of my head, because I used to be an overthinker, and this class helped me with focus on the conflict of a scene and my character’s stakes. There has to be a balance between technique and connecting with my text, scene partners, and the audience.

What activities were you involved in as a student?

During my time at UConn, I was able to study abroad in two different countries. I studied first in Prague for a six-week acting intensive, where I got to travel the city, see historical places, find hole-in-the-wall places, and see a more rural part of the Czech Republic by visiting a small town outside of the city.

The next year, I studied abroad in London for a semester, also for acting, where I got to see a bunch of different shows in the West End, some of them being at the infamous National Theatre and Shakespeare Globe, which was a surreal experience. During this semester, not only did I go on weekend trips to other towns and regions in the United Kingdom, but I also got to go to different countries with my friends. In both of these studies abroad, I created strong friendships with my peers that are still going strong to this day.

On campus, I’ve been a part of numerous shows with the regional theater, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, that is within the dramatic arts department. This gave me a place outside of the classroom to develop my craft and again work with people in the industry. I got to do a lot of projects that I was lucky to work on, many projects that I had a lot of interest in, and new people both in and outside of UConn. This semester, I was able to join the UConn choir, UConntabile, which gave me a platform to pursue my love of singing.

What’s one thing that surprised you about UConn?

Even though UConn is such a huge campus, I would always find a way to run into the same people or meet people with whom I would share many mutual friends. I thought with such a huge campus, I would never be the same person, however there are many close-knit communities that will feel like family to you.

What are your plans after graduation/receiving your degree?

I hope to go into the acting industry, explore more job opportunities, and build my work experience. This past semester, I’ve been applying to numerous different theater companies, researching, refining my audition material, and getting equipment and headshots in order to break into the industry and establish myself.

How has UConn prepared you for the next chapter in life?

UConn has helped me become more comfortable with auditions, especially with self-tapes, as they have been pushing to be virtual. Therefore, all my professors made sure my peers and I were comfortable with in-person and virtual auditions. My acting classes have helped me become a lot more comfortable with my physicality, stage presence, and connection with scene partners. I used to have trouble with placement on the stage and didn’t know what to do physically onstage. After my movement and vocal classes and acting classes, these techniques helped me get out of my head, not worry, and move freely.

UConn also furthered my love and passion for Shakespeare and made me realize how much I wanted to pursue it. I also made a lot of professional and interpersonal connections during my time here that I want to continue to grow after graduation. My professors brought in alumni and guest artists in workshops to learn more about life after UConn.

Any advice for incoming students?

Having a work-life balance is really important. This is something I did not learn very well in high school. I worked all the time and struggled with doing hobbies that weren’t related to school. However, at UConn I broke out of this habit. I pushed myself to go to more school events and make time to hang out with friends, even if it was just going to lunch. Both your educational and social life fulfill you, but they fulfill different aspects of your life, and you need both to be a well-rounded successful human being.

What’s one thing everyone should do during their time at UConn?

Go see a show at Connecticut Repertory Theatre! Whether you’re in the fine arts or not, go check out the School of Fine Arts. Throughout my time here, there have been so many events within the acting department and more. There are all the concerts and operas within the music department, puppetry slams and exhibits through puppet arts, student films with digital media and design, and galleries from both technical theater and the arts department. Come to the fine arts building, explore the arts, and meet all these extremely talented and skilled people, and you will not be disappointed.

What will always make you think of UConn?

One of my favorite parts about campus is how dog friendly it is. I am a huge dog person, and I would always get excited seeing dogs going on walks. The lines to pet Jonathan, the therapy dogs coming to dorms during finals week, the transition from Jonathan XIV to Jonathan XV, and even Jonathan’s birthday, because I shared the same birthday as the previous Jonathan! Every time I see a Husky off campus, it brings a smile to my face.