To Theatre or not to Theatre that was the question?A single mom’s journey, choosing her passion for Theatre
by Vanessa Ominika
My life raising three children on my own was financially a struggle, many people have asked me why didn’t I choose a different career to pursue, one that would help me sustain a stable financial income while raising a family? I asked myself that question many times throughout the years, but my passion for the stage was much too strong and it’s where I found myself, it is where I found my voice and my confidence. How could I not pursue it?
Vanessa at Thorneloe Theatre at Laurentian University 2005 approx.
Image Description: Vanessa sits in a theatre. She wears a red shirt and jeans. Her legs are folded and she smiles at the camera.
When I started University in my early 20s, I went in not really knowing what my major was going to be, I started taking a lot of English courses because growing up I loved reading, reading was my escape from reality, and I loved using my imagination whenever I could. I ended up taking a theatre arts course at Thorneloe University and there I found where I was meant to be. However, being a full-time single mom of three young children and a full-time student proved to be hard for me, I ended up missing a lot of classes and I was really struggling to keep up with the work and assignments. I almost quit school altogether.
In my first year of an acting class is where I met a very important kindred spirit of mine, Sarah Gartshore. We connected immediately on both being single mothers in University, we would find ourselves chatting about our similarities during class breaks and there one of my most important friendships was cultivated through those visits, at the time I didn’t see just how important, while I was sitting on one of the many steps of the University contemplating how hard University life has become and how I have fallen behind on some of my classes, particularly my acting class. I hadn’t gone to class in two weeks, and I was feeling defeated. I see my new school friend come up to me, so happy to see me, meanwhile, I just wanted to shrink away, embarrassed that I hadn’t been in class in a couple of weeks. But she approached me with such enthusiasm and positivity, I can’t remember exactly how our conversation went but I told her I was contemplating dropping the class as things are just getting to be too overwhelming at school and at home. She encouraged me to keep going and just to come to the next class and that we’ll help each other out, one little step at a time. In tears, I agreed, and she hugged me, and I felt confident that I had the support going forward should I decide to stay in the class. I went back to class and found not only the support from my new friend, but I found support from my other classmates and my professor Valerie Senyk.
Vanessa & Sarah (2005)
Image Description: Two women are hugging. They smile at the camera broadly.
Cast members from The Crackwalker by Judith Thomson, Directed by Valerie Sneak, approx. 2007
Image Description: The cast of The Crackwalker gather together for a group photo. All are smiling happily at the camera.
The next 3 years were tough, but I got through them, thanks to wonderful classmates and castmates and the professors at Thorneloe University, and my forever friend Sarah. I finished off my university with a leading role in the play “The Crackwalker” by Judith Thompson, Directed by my professor and mentor Valerie Senyk. That performance really changed me as an actor profoundly, I will never forget that role and am forever grateful for it. As my education at Thorneloe came to an end, I, unfortunately, was short 2 credits to graduate and could not find the funding to finish the degree. I decided that I would return to finish them at later date, as I had gotten an opportunity to pursue Indigenous Theatre in Toronto, but taking this next step I would have to leave my children behind to pursue this next chapter and that decision was hard but I talked with my family and the decision was made, I was 29 and on my way to Toronto to continue my Theatre education. I was in Toronto for 3 months before I decided that I had to leave, with a sad heart I could not be away from my babies and missed them every day, only mothers know that emptiness of being away from their children, I knew it was best to go back home to them, I did not regret that decision. I knew someday my goal in theatre would be achieved.
Today, as I am remembering my younger self and how determined I was to follow my heart, yes it was hard financially raising my 3 children, doing all kinds of different retail jobs just to get by. But I don’t think I would have changed my university major; theatre remains to be a big part of who I am then, and who I am today, the theatre was my reason for gaining confidence in myself and for finding my voice. And because of that, I knew I wanted to eventually give that to the youth in my community. It’s been my dream to become my own independent facilitator for our youth with the end goal to start my own business. I am taking small steps to pursue that dream and with each little step, I can see that dream coming true. The arts in our Indigenous communities, particularly in the north should be just as important for our youth as sports are. I don’t want to compare the two because both are equally important, but we do have a lot of our youth who aren’t sports inclined and are into music, dance, theatre, and visual arts. It’s time we bring these back to our community, we are natural storytellers, and that is how we have passed down our stories and songs from generation to generation.
Just as I was a determined young mom to pursue theatre to whatever degree that was, and it remained an integral part of my life off and on for over 20 years, I am now at a stage in my life where I am home and all signs are telling me to take those first scary steps to put myself out there as an independent facilitator and to show the younger generation they have a platform to use their voice on stage.
