“Your path in life won’t look like anyone else’s.”
Thurayya UmBayemake is the Spark Lead Actor-Teacher in support of the Arts Grow SC program at SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. She delivers literacy-based drama programming to public schools to encourage “creative thinking, divergent thinking, and overall motivation to read.” UmBayemake earned a degree in drama studies at South Carolina State University (SC State).
Interview
Transcript
Thurayya UmBayemake
My name is Thurayya UmBayemake. I moved to South Carolina a couple of years ago from Ohio. But I claim Ohio, Kentucky, and South Carolina because I went to college here, and I felt like I grew up here, so.
Emma Plutnicki
Perfect. So, what do you do for work? And where are you currently working from?
Thurayya UmBayemake
My official title is Curriculum Coordinator, actor, teacher/coach for the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. So what that entails, is that I’m the lead actor teacher for a program called Spark, which is through their department of outreach and community engagement. And, the Spark program is a literacy-based drama program. So we go into elementary schools. And, not only do we show students how to take stories from picture books and how to add drama enactments in there, to show characters, to show settings, to show plot. To reinforce the literacy-based learning. But also creative thinking, divergent thinking, and just overall motivation to read. So we do that. That’s our main goal. But we also have a goal of showing teachers that hey, even though you don’t have an arts background, you could do this too. So it’s a two fold job.
Emma Plutnicki
Amazing. So you’re working out of South Carolina?
Thurayya UmBayemake
Yes.
Emma Plutnicki
Okay. Perfect. And how long have you been working there?
Thurayya UmBayemake
So, I’ve been here for a little over two years. And that’s when the program, the residency program started. Ah, so, this program has been going on for a minute. But, um, the program before I came along was a summer based only pilot. And when the SR [Sub-recipient], ARP [American Rescue Plan] grant money came in, that’s the federal, you know, grant money that was given for the pandemic, it turned this program into a year-long residency program. So, that’s when I was hired in. And I had a team of, underneath me, other actor teachers, and we’re spread out throughout the state. So, we work somewhat remotely and we traveled to different schools across the state. So, just you know, to spread the, to spread the wealth, to the spread the joy of the, of the job.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, amazing. So two years, how did you end up in this field? How did you hear about it? How did you know that this is something that you could do?
Thurayya UmBayemake
So, my background, I’ve always been into theater. Well, I shouldn’t say I’ve always. I’m a storyteller. So I’ll try not to be so long winded, I will promise you, I will try hard.
Thurayya UmBayemake
So, it all started. When in high school, I was actually an athlete, I did cross country and track and field. I got injured my senior year. And at the same time, I got injured, the African community theater opened up in my hometown. And I tell this story, because it’s very important. That’s how I got into theater. Like I was involved in a theater that embraced me for who I was, and told stories that I could truly relate to. And so, that gave me that, the theater bug because, actually, I wasn’t even initially an actor; I was an assistant director, slash stage manager, then acting, and I knew from that I wanted to stay in theater. So I went to college ended up at South Carolina State University because they had a drama education program. And that’s how I ended up from Ohio down here. I have no ties to South Carolina other than that, but that program really developed me. Um, one as a family unit, you know, I felt comfortable and vulnerable enough, which is, which is very important. When it comes to drama and theater, you gotta be vulnerable onstage, in the script, everywhere, for the story to be told authentically.
Thurayya UmBayemake
So, that was one thing. But then also, when I realized how long the drama education program was going to take to complete, I switched to drama studies, which was good for me because it helped me learn other aspects, more in depth in theater, like I learned Tech, I learned administration, like all these different aspects, versus just little surface levels and education. So, that is my educational background.
Thurayya UmBayemake
Once I graduated, I did some traveling. I called myself a little bit of a nomad, I went back to Ohio for a bit. I did children’s theater up there, and I opened up my own theater, basically for social justice. It was called Sue Company. And I opened it with two of my friends, and we focused on telling the African American stories, you know, up here. I don’t know why I said up here, I put American in there. African American stories.
Thurayya UmBayemake
From there, I went to New York and, actually when I moved to New York, I took a break from theater, even though I was living in New York. I know that’s backwards, but I just was living life and, and me… me being a natural storyteller, you have to experience life to tell stories. So, that’s what I did in New York. I just was experiencing life. I did go to play readings, you know, and volunteered as an actor, but that’s the extent of my, my theater experience in New York. Once I came back to Ohio, I realized I wanted to get back into theater. But I also knew I wanted to come back down south to South Carolina, because this, to me, is where my home theater is now. Like, where my friends from schools kind of stayed in the area. So, I was looking for jobs. And then one of my colleagues or old classmates sent me this job. He was like, Hey, I think you’d be interested. So that’s how I learned about this job. And I was like, I am interested.
Thurayya UmBayemake
So, I was nervous. I actually applied for both that just the actor, teacher job and the actor, teacher coach job, because I didn’t know if I, ah, you know, fully qualified or not. And it’s funny, because I think you’ve you’ve probably seen that article where like, there was a study on men and women. How women feel they have to heal. That’s me. I was like, I don’t know. So, obviously, I interview well, and I got the position. And it’s just been smooth, not smooth sailing, but it’s been smooth sailing since. It’s, it’s definitely been challenging, but it’s a good challenge. And I’m really happy that, one, that they picked me, and they trust me with this position, and that I could do justice for it.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, amazing. So what kind of challenges have you experienced? And how have you overcome those?
Thurayya UmBayemake
Well, one is I’ve somewhat managed before. My managing experience has always been like short-term, right? Like my last job, I worked for the Board of Elections up in Cuyahoga County, and I was a recruiter official. So, what that means is that I basically was responsible for filling in the poll workers. So I was, I hired them. And then sometimes I had to fire them, you know, or, or, or relocate them, and like, different things like that. But it was a very short-term commitment. This job is a very long-term commitment. You know, because once someone’s on the team, we want them to stay on the team. So I had to grow as a manager to overcome difficulties, whether it’s individual or personal, or just overall team dynamics.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, that makes sense. So now, on a daily basis, what kind of things are you working on? And what are your responsibilities on just a day-to-day basis? Are you working more on long projects? Or are there kind of short assignments that kind of come up? Or what does it look like?
Thurayya UmBayemake
It’s a mixture, of both. And it’s, I feel like since I’ve been brought on, it has always been a mixture of both. Mostly because it was such a brand new idea of a program, where we had an idea where it was gonna go, but we didn’t necessarily have the pathway. So we had to be always flexible, which sometimes it’s harder than what it sounds, you know. So my daily projects, like the shorter terms is what I know, right? Like summer programming, I know what comes up every year. So I have to plan for it right? During the school year residency, so I have to plan for that. That’s the short term, you know, constantly, but the long term part is choosing the districts, how we’re going to get to those districts, who’s going to be involved like that’s more of the long term, and also getting the word out about our program because, there’s a lot of challenges that comes with our program, because it’s new, you got to explain it. But you gotta explain it in a way that you don’t lose interest. For instance, not being too long winded. But you don’t also don’t want to be too short, because they’ll come up with their own idea what the program is. And so yeah,
Thurayya UmBayemake
I feel like the whole program has just had a signifigant impact on me.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, makes sense. So, throughout your time doing this, has there been one project or something that you worked on that stood out the most as like resonating with you or something that had a significant impact on you?
Emma Plutnicki
That’s amazing.
Thurayya UmBayemake
It is. You know what, one thing I’ve always wanted to do is be like a presenter, right? Like when I go to conferences or things, there’s always a presenter up there explaining. And I always thought that job looked cool. I didn’t know that this job would turn into part of that. So I get, this past year, particularly, I got to go to different conferences and present the program. So, I was really happy about that accomplishment.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, that’s so fun. And so you said that you came, you didn’t really have too many ties to South Carolina. So when you came, were there any, um, like organizations or events that you went to, or interacted with to kind of build a network, or just overall help you in your field?
Thurayya UmBayemake
Yes. So, this is when I bring in my mama. But, ah, so growing up, we moved around a lot. Um, and my mama has always instilled in me like, you get to know the community. Like, first and second day moving, we always went and got a library card. We met at the police station to meet the officer, like we you gotta know who you’re living with, you know, your neighbors and everything. So, when I came down here, not only did I reach out to like, my former classmates at, from SCSU [South Carolina State] who are still in the area. I did the same exact things. I went to get a library card, I went to local community festivals or events, you know. And I reached out to different communities to let’s say, hey, you know, introduce myself things of that nature, you know. And that’s how I built, build my network here. I also went to many of the different theater events around. I live in Colombia. I don’t know if I mentioned that but, my remote position is Midlands. So I went to the theater network here to just introduce myself because I’m also doing something in drama and wanted to know the familiar bases.
Emma Plutnicki
Amazing. And within, when you were trying to get this job, were there any skills that you found helped you land, the position, or any skills that you think someone trying to get into your field should have in order to find success?
Thurayya UmBayemake
Definitely. So, I think two major skills is what got me the job. One was my natural storytelling ability. Two was just my background and job experiences. I have worked so many different types of jobs. And I know some people feel once they get out of college, they should only work in their field, right? You’re missing out, right? Like you are missing out on meeting different people, learning about different situations, how to overcome it, you know, taking that L, you know, learn from your mistakes. So, I think me having all those different types of jobs, one led me to be a recruiter official, because I could deal with people well, and that recruiter official helped me get this job because they’re like, Oh, you have management experience, see how it all just comes into place?
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, perfect.And just as we’re wrapping up, do you have any advice for someone who would want to get into a position like yours, and how they can manage that? And just any overall advice for them?
Thurayya UmBayemake
Yes. One, don’t narrow your network, right? Like, make friends with any and everybody, just to learn about their life experiences and what they went through. It will help you learn that your path is not going to look like anybody else’s. Like, you could talk to 100 people, I promise you, your path is going to be different from all 100 people. Right? And with that being said, you can’t take everyone’s advice. Everyone’s advice is used with a grain of salt because, again, your path is going to be different no matter what.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah, for sure. That’s, that’s good advice. And is there anything else you’d like to add about your experiences or your profession?
Thurayya UmBayemake
Yeah I, I would like to add one more thing.
Thurayya UmBayemake
I feel like this job was a dream come true. And I say that because when you major in one of those fields that doesn’t, quote-unquote, guarantee you a job. You have to learn patience, right? And, like, when I was again when I came out of college, I think my first job was housekeeping. Like, who wants to admit that nobody, right? I eventually got into like children’s theater and other stuff, but none of those paid the bills, right? Like it was just something I enjoyed doing. But, this job is the first one, you know, that meets both. That satisfied my living situation. And I really love and enjoy doing it. And, it took a while. But, I feel like it was the perfect timing. So it’s about faith. It’s about persistence. And, like, I just had to, like I said, refocus and learn different jobs and different skills and enjoy the journey of life. But I really do love this job. My, team is great. Working at the, um, SC gov school is great. And, I couldn’t ask for anything better.
Emma Plutnicki
Yeah.
Emma Plutnicki
Amazing. I’m so happy you found your dream job. So good to hear.
