As the second decade of the 21st century comes to a close, 我在回忆那些独特的“学院”时刻，它们在我的记忆中留下了不可磨灭的印记. For your enjoyment, here are the 10 things I will I remember forever.
10. 周诗情画意
视觉艺术对我来说是神奇的:我无法理解一个人是如何把一张空白的画布变成美丽的东西的. Over the years I’ve fallen in love with many students’ pieces, and Maxine’s representation of The Academy is one of my all-time favorites. 她好心地把它卖给了我, 但那时我已经忘记了它到底有多大——它有七英尺多长! 把它裱起来之后, 蒂姆·巴特勒 and I carried it several blocks back to school, stopping traffic and generally creating quite the scene along Milwaukee, 奥格登, 和芝加哥大道. As desperately as I want it in my apartment, 它将永远生活在学校里——它现在在录音室里——因为它太大了，搬不动!
9. 停电了
I’m pretty sure that it was November 2015 when the power suddenly went out. 未被吓住, and figuring that ComEd would restore service quickly, we forged ahead with classes and rehearsals. One hour became two, and then two hours became four. 最后，我们意识到11月天很快就黑了，于是决定提前停课，让大家回家. I made the announcement one floor at a time, and as I was telling Theatre and Musical Theatre to pack up their stuff, 砰——灯又亮了. I’ll tell you this: it’s no fun to tell 140 exhausted, stressed-out students that school has just been *un*canceled
8. 玛丽·香菜的圣诞树
“The whole building is in a bad mood,” Ms. Caraway said one December, “and it’s your fault. I think a Christmas tree will fix it.她眨了眨眼睛. 我知道我有麻烦了.
在几分钟内, 她动员了, 我开始收到学生和校友发来的几十条短信:圣诞树表情包. 圣诞树的图画. 圣诞树照片.
一整天，玛丽笑得像太阳一样灿烂，声音里装着天真. “我好像听到你的电话在响.“整个晚上，我的手机嗡嗡响了几百次，这是葛缕子军的全部力量. 大发彩票平台圣诞树的故事. 大发彩票平台圣诞树的歌曲. 大发彩票平台圣诞树的电影.
You all know how this story ends: she got her Christmas tree.
7. 下雪了
在2012年的冬天, 帕姆·乔丹让我负责决定什么时候因为天气原因停课. 在第一场暴风雪期间, 学生们——疲惫不堪，渴望休息——想出了一个主意，用“下雪了”的短信淹没了我. 这很快就变成了传统，现在我收到了铺天盖地的信息 时刻 the first snowflakes fall of any snowstorm.) It’s cute when it happens at 3pm. 当我的手机在凌晨3点突然收到100条短信时，情况就完全不同了.)
6. 巴克·布鲁的傀儡军队
Few places are as anxiety-provoking as our haunted building at 2:00 a.m. 一年几次, 戏剧系的防火梯门被风吹开，警报拉响, and someone (that’s me) has to come to school to fix the problem. 2010年12月, I found myself inching my way through the pitch-black theatre, 听着窗帘后面的防火梯门砰的一声打开又关上——到处都是狂风呼啸, the curtains billowing in every direction.
要解决这个问题，就得绕道去服装商店. Every theatre is said to be haunted, but I don’t believe in ghosts: except at 2am, 在学院, 在剧院. 我很紧张.
I slowly moved closer and closer to the fire escape door, listening to it creaking in the wind and banging against the wall. 然后，我的手电筒找到了巴克·布鲁为之制作的比真人大的木偶大军 圣诞颂歌. I almost passed out from the terror. 圣诞颂歌 is one of the coolest things we’ve ever done. 但直到今天，回想起那些可怕的数字，我仍然不寒而栗, 漆黑的夜晚.
5. 繁星闪烁的夜晚,
In 2012, 媒体艺术系大三学生亚历克斯·吉拉夫制作了一部非常感人的电影，我一直在谈论这部电影.
In 繁星闪烁的夜晚,, Alex tells the story of a little boy whose mother has died. He lives in a terribly bleak apartment with his father, and the two of them are desperately trying to figure out how to cope. The little boy is obsessed with the idea of space travel: he spends his days dressed in a space suit playing with his spaceship toys; before bedtime he stares out the windows, fixated on the stars in the night sky. 他渴望逃离:真的, 来自地球, and symbolically from the crushing weight of the loss he feels.
这部电影非常有效果. It’s simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful, bittersweet and joyful. 首映式上，观众有哭有笑，每个人都被亚历克斯惊人的同理心所感动. 我记得当时我在想——从那以后我也经常重复——这就是艺术的意义所在.
每当我有机会向观众讲述为什么艺术在我们的生活中如此重要时, 我谈论的是 繁星闪烁的夜晚,. (Alex was kind enough to allow me to tell this story in my recent TED Talk Life at the Intersection of Excellence, Purpose, and Passion.)
4. 拳碰/ 伴我左右
我们在艺术学院经常看到改变生活的艺术，这几乎成了例行公事. 每个星期, 在每个部门, students are proving that their work has the power to inspire, 统一, 拓宽视野, 治愈, 发出声音, 动员, 并带来欢乐.
In my 27 years as part of the community, I have been profoundly impacted by work across all six disciplines. 玛克辛的《大发彩票平台登录》摘要, Antoniette Hartsfield’s senior piece, every single note Akenya Seymour sang her senior year, Gabe Delli’s virtuosic Christopher in Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime唐学友的 La Planete，整个剧组 拉格泰姆我还能说出100多个.
So, 几乎不可能选择一个时刻来代表你们在这里所做的所有惊人的工作. 但是，我会努力的. 兰迪·邓肯的 伴我左右 这是我们舞蹈部门表演的最具代表性的作品之一吗, and this 时刻 between Joey Massarelli and CJ Johnson is the perfect, joyful end to such a spirited piece.
3. Justin Tranter’s Gala Speech (“Be F-ing Prepared”)
There are so many Justin Tranter 时刻s from the last decade — really, since the late 90’s — that are absolutely unforgettable, from his appearances at the AIDS Benefit, to the opening of the Justin Tranter录音室, 到他在2016年Showcase演唱的《大发彩票平台登录》和其他一些热门歌曲.
But one memory stands out as not only one of the best nights of my career, but as one of the best nights of my life. 在去年春天的晚会上，我们为贾斯汀颁发了“遗产和领导力奖”, and his incredible speech elicited laughter, 眼泪, 还有当之无愧的掌声. 他的这句话“仅仅是快乐就是一种反抗的行为”使这篇演讲立即成为经典.
2. 革命!
In 2010, 电影大师杰克·邓菲制作了一段媒体艺术短片(节目开始时的“关掉手机”视频)，他称之为“给学院的情书”。.
这部电影讲述了一群学院学生为了得到更好的浴室而反抗的故事. 计划成功了, 在成功的鼓舞下，学生们开始为他们想要的一切而反抗. “如果有人想从帕特拉老头那里得到什么，现在是时候提出来了——他已经心软了!杰克喊道。.
很快, the students have everything: flat screen TVs, 月亮鞋, 弹簧, 按摩, 教师授课, even a bumper-less Media 艺术 show. 但是事情变得非常糟糕, 最后，泰南和德普雷兹用手机交谈，打断了节目. Distraught, Kameryn Carter flees the building, only to run into Juan. 胡安用他的智慧安慰她，并说服她恢复媒体艺术保险杠. 胡安又一次力挽狂澜.
当然，这部电影制作精良，从头到尾都是歇斯底里的. 这也是对演员们(从约翰·奇布拉(John CIbula)到蒂姆·泰南(Tim Tynan)再到胡安(Juan))和使这个社区如此特别的环境(我们古老但深受喜爱的建筑)的真正庆祝.
杰克，谢谢你做这个. (安息吧，约翰·奇布拉.)
1. Mary Caraway, “Hallelujah”, and “Stand by Me”
有时候，我们需要经历深深的痛苦，才能充分欣赏我们周围世界的美好.
One of the most painful days in Academy history happened last April, when our beloved Mary Caraway passed away. 当我告诉学生和教师这个消息时，我甚至没有忍住在他们面前哭泣. I’d never felt heartbreak like that in my entire life.
And then some beautiful things happened.
Our community came together in authentic and powerful ways. We canceled classes to just be with one another. 一个编织小组成立了. Teachers and students did origami together. Some students set up Mary’s Christmas tree.
天后, 几十名学生聚集在大厅的钢琴旁，唱着莱昂纳德·科恩的《大发彩票平台登录》，跳舞的人则随着音乐即兴起舞. In the middle of a blistering jazz set, 音乐系大四学生亚当·切尔贝克(Adam Chlebek)动情地独唱了《大发彩票平台》(伴我左右)," and the entire audience sang along.
这就是艺术的意义所在. 我们教授或学习艺术，不是因为它能提高考试成绩，或者让我们成为更好的合作者. We don’t teach or learn art because we hope it makes us rich or famous. 我们教授和学习艺术，因为艺术让我们的生活更美好——在心碎的时候, 至少可以忍受一点.
At The Academy, we’ve always taken care of one another. And Mary Caraway has never stopped taking care of all of us.