A Play in Five Acts.
ACT I鈥擨t鈥檚 2004, and Ashley-Rose Goodwin is starting Theatre Studies at Dalhousie. The stage had been her safe place as she struggled with depression and anxiety. She hopes studying theatre will help turn her life around, but it doesn鈥檛. 鈥淚 really struggled at Dal the first two years. Back then, they weren鈥檛 sure what to do with me.鈥�
ACT II鈥擜shley completes second year and heads back to Yarmouth for summer break. She discovers she鈥檚 pregnant and decides not to return to university. She welcomes Hudson, then Isac and Wynston to her family. Her focus is on being a good mom, she stays connected to performance by teaching piano and getting involved with musical theatre at Th鈥橸ARC.
鈥淓veryone is like, 鈥榟ow did you do it?鈥� I think if you really believe and want something bad enough you can accomplish it. There鈥檚 power in believing in who you are and your fire, your inner fire, and needing to keep it burning so you can share it with others.鈥�
ACT III鈥擜shley is a single mom living in Liverpool juggling motherhood, running her private music studio and volunteering with the Astor Theatre. She鈥檚 operating on autopilot and her confidence is not keeping up with her success. 鈥淲hen they asked me to be the assistant director for Seussical Junior I didn鈥檛 feel right because I didn鈥檛 have my degree. Even though I had all this experience, I just felt like I needed the paper.鈥�
ACT IV鈥擲he welcomes another son, Kenneth. She learns how to balance her theatre projects while serving at White Point Beach Resort. There, she meets Kim Brooks (currently Dean of Management) who encourages Ashley to finish her degree. Ashley returns to Dal in 2019.
ACT V鈥擳hrough the pandemic, Ashley perseveres, reconnecting with her voice and her inner power. She graduates in May 2022 with an Honours degree in Theatre Studies and aminor in Music. 鈥淚 want to compose music and begin performing again. I鈥檓 also thinking about doing my Master of Arts in counseling to integrate that with music and theater. I want to give kids and youth that safe space that theatre gave me.鈥�
This story appeared in the DAL Magazine Spring 2022 issue. Flip through the rest of the Spring 2022 issue using the links below.