Senior Spotlight: Ethan Elsbernd
This week’s Waukee High School Senior spotlight is Ethan Elsbernd!
Ethan has been a part of an incredible amount of extracurricular activities pertaining to performing arts. This includes being a member of Waukee Millennium Show Choir, Waukee Avenue Jazz Choir, Waukee Acappella Concert Choir. He is also a three year member of the Iowa All State Choir, attendee of the 2020 Regional ACDA Choral Conference, member and soloist of the 2019 All Iowa Show Choir. His theater related extracurriculars include being an inducted International Thespian, part of every fall play and spring musical at Waukee High School for the last three years. He is previously a three year member of Waukee’s Large Group Speech Team, an All State Speech Attendee in Group Musical Theatre, and a director of a High School Handbell Choir for St. John’s Lutheran.
Ethan is currently in the midst of Waukee’s spring production of SHREK the musical where he will be playing the lead as Shrek. Ethan knows the pressure that comes with this role but is excited to fulfill the challenges.
“On one hand there is a lot of pressure. You and your fellow cast members expect nothing but the best of you. You can’t help but always compare yourself to others who may have played similar roles, or others who you see as more capable or talented than yourself,” Ethan said. “On the other hand, you are always looked up to by the cast. Whether it be in rehearsal, tech, or performance, you lead by example with everything you do, every song you sing, and every line you give. The more you give to the process, the more the process will give back to you and the rest of the cast.”
Through the various amounts of activities Ethan has participated in, he has felt each one is welcoming and considers them a family.
“I have loved every community I’ve been a part of. With every activity comes a family, and much more often than not, that family is going to foster your growth as a performer, and person. I have learned so much from the people I’ve met and friends I’ve made here.”
Ethan speaks highly of the way his high school career has shaped him and how he has come to find his true self.
“Be unabashedly yourself! The best advice I can give any underclassmen is to be proud of who you are. So proud that you could yell it all from the rooftops, and not be embarrassed. Because you are yourself, and yourself is the most amazing thing”
Ethan plans on attending the University of Iowa to study music performance with hopes to teach and perform music in the future.
