With applications for switching majors and adding minors ending just last week, many students are excited at the prospect of exploring different areas of art. However, some students do not have that option. Technical Theatre majors are not allowed to change majors and because they have such a large workload, working the shows for the other majors, adding a minor is almost impossible. 

Tech major Aerith Hamper was one student who encountered this problem. Hamper, wanting to switch from Theater Tech to the incoming Media Arts and Communications major, was told that they could not undergo the major change they wanted. After hearing about this rule, Hamper and another student, Ethan Andrew, had a meeting with Mr. Walker, the principal, where they were officially told that switching out of the technical theatre was against the rules. The two students were ultimately not allowed to make the change. “I had an interview with Mr. Walker,” says Hamper, “He gave us his reasons, and we were pretty much shot down from the moment we walked in the room.”

Hamper, having cycled through a series of different interests and hobbies, found this issue extremely disheartening. They said, “I want everyone to be able to have that same opportunity to find a different interest in life.” To combat this issue, they created a petition to pass around the student body. Students throughout the school signed in order to get policy changed. Within four days, 400 signatures were collected. The petition was extremely successful and Hamper plans to present it to Mr. Walker within the next few weeks. 

This petition shows that the student body at LVA has the power to create change. Hamper’s message for any students that want to make a positive impact in their school is “Don’t let someone tell you you can’t do it or it’s impossible, or that speaking up about what needs to be changed is not okay. You have your own voice.”

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