Stories

Samantha Anderson, MFA '22

November 12, 2021

Samantha Anderson headshotAfter four years at Oklahoma State University, Samantha decided to completely change her career path to reflect her passion and desire to advocate for the arts.

She grew up as a singer, performer, and lover of theatre. While in undergrad, she spent her time outside of academia directing and performing in student-led philanthropic productions for local nonprofit organizations in Oklahoma, including "United Way" and "Hearts for Hearing."

Following graduation, she decided to uproot her life and move to Dublin, Ireland to immerse herself in a new culture. While in Dublin, she volunteered for a number of theatre festivals, meeting fellow arts lovers from all around the world while experiencing the ins and outs of festival production. A love for teaching, creating, and inspiring her peers to use performance as a community builder led her to the MFA program at Seattle University.

Currently, she works at a nonprofit organization in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a volunteer coordinator and desires to use her experience in the MFA program to work towards establishing arts programming and events in communities lacking the vibrancy of arts in everyday life. Eventually, she plans to receive her certification in Drama Therapy and use her background in performance and psychology to assist individuals with healing and self-expression.