2024 New Student Orientation Play
ABOUT THE PLAY:
The newly developed ‘TBH: To Be Honest’ student orientation play follows students though a ‘year at a glance’ and includes issues such as homesickness, consent, academic integrity, imposter syndrome, and features many supports for students.
‘TBH: To Be Honest’ is an uplifting and welcoming experience for students, and has a strong theme to build connections and develop resiliency while attending university.
If music by artists like Shawn Mendes, Panic! At The Disco, and Lizzo is your thing, you'll want to see it! This 60-minute show is sure to provide some of the ins and outs of student life at the University of Waterloo. TBH … you won’t want to miss it!!!
Performances
Premiere Performance - more dates coming soon
| Date | Time |
|---|---|
| Thursday, August 29th, 2024 | 3:00pm |
Orientation performances - check back soon
| Date | Time |
|---|---|
| TBD | TBD |
| TBD | TBD |
Territorial Acknowledgement
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is centralized within the Office of Indigenous Relations.
Director's Notes
Creative Process for original song "TBH: To Be Honest"
The name TBH: To Be Honest was chosen through a student and staff poll. I think it’s a wonderful choice because the name really expresses the core of our new version of the student orientation play - we’re talking about subjects and exploring situations that are so universal but often downplayed because they can be difficult, awkward, or embarrassing. Students starting university are experiencing so much change all at the same time - things like being anxious about being somewhere new, trying to make friends, experiencing romantic relationships, managing long-distance relationships while in a new environment, trying to succeed academically, feeling unprepared or unworthy, figuring out what’s comfortable and enjoyable for them while managing their own expectations and the expectations of others - it’s a lot. We tried to uncover all these feelings in TBH: To Be Honest so the students watching feel less alone and know how to access resources to help them get through the tough stuff and help them get involved and connected on campus.
The show mostly uses current pop songs weaved into the story. When we were considering music for the show, there wasn’t a song we could find that captured the pressure and uncertainty that students feel when they arrive on campus and start university, so, we decided to write one. The original song TBH: To Be Honest comes at the very beginning of the show and is meant to share with the audience how these characters are feeling - both excited and worried - as they start their journey.
The cast and I worked collectively to develop the lyrics - we spent a number of hours discussing the feeling of entering university or starting any new experience and key words and phrases started to emerge. Then we connected the lyrics to a melody and began to build what is now TBH: To Be Honest, the song.
Amanda Kind
TBH: To Be Honest Lyrics (original song)
Songwriters: Amanda Kind and Steve Lehmann with Paula Bornacelli, Kayla Burmaster, Hannah Daudlin, Benny Faulknor, Leo Guo, Avery Lehmann, Conor Murphy, Samuel Soga.
Verse 1
Everything feels like it’s moving so fast
Can’t keep up but I can’t go back
Away from my small town for the first time
One my own, leaving home, hope I get it right
Pre-Chorus
Who am I?
Who do they want me to be?
Who am I?
Do I even know me?
Chorus
To be honest, I don’t know
Exactly how this is gonna go
To be honest, I’m a bit of a mess
I don’t have it figured out just yet
But I’m trying, redefining
Stumbling to find my way
To be honest, I’m afraid
Hope everything’ll be okay
TBH
Verse 2
Waves of anxiety come and they go
Scroll through my phone, breath, and try to cope
Wondering if I fit into this crowd
Are you new?
Yeah me too?
Are we friends now?
Pre-Chorus
Who am I?
Who do they want me to be?
Who am I?
Do I even know me?
Chorus
To be honest, I don’t know
Exactly how this is gonna go
To be honest, I’m a bit of a mess
I don’t have it figured out just yet
But I’m trying, redefining
Stumbling to find my way
To be honest, I’m afraid
Hope everything’ll be okay
TBH
Bridge
Excited, nervous, feeling the pressure, can I keep it together?
Where am I going? Feel like I should know this.
Am I good enough?
I wanna be good enough.
Chorus
To be honest, I don’t know
Exactly how this is gonna go
To be honest, I’m a bit of a mess
I don’t have it figured out just yet
But I’m trying, redefining
Stumbling to find my way
To be honest, I’m afraid
Hope everything’ll be okay
TBH
Cast
Quinn Andres (they/he) as Sam
Leo Guo (he/him) as Yichen
Eunice Song (she/her) as Grace
Phoenix Rogoz (any pronouns) as Dani
Liam Couchman (he/him) as Nick
Jaime Borromeo (he/him) as Curtis
Rachel Regier (she/her) as Heather
Producers and production team
Sandra Gibson (she/her) | Manager, Health Education and Promotion Campus Wellness, University of Waterloo | sandra.gibson@uwaterloo.ca
Becky Wroe (she/her) | Orientation & Member Transitions Manager, Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association | rlwroe@uwaterloo.ca
Amanda Kind (she/her) | Director
Paula Bornacelli (she/her) Assistant Director, Dance Captain
Steve Lehmann (he/him) | Music Arrangements
Fiona Lehmann (she/her) | Choreographer
Bailey Grigg (she/her) | Stage Manager
Follow Campus Wellness on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @UWaterlooWellness for health information and updates from Health Services and Counselling Services.
Follow Peer Health Education @UWHealthyU for posts from UWaterloo students on healthy lifestyle tips.
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