Caleb Grochalski

Intro to Theatre

Empathy Assignment #1 Continued

After going a few days last week and into the weekend doing the first mirroring exercise, I noticed that girls, especially in groups, were a lot more open and had a lot more fun with everything that was happening. I did one with a Danny (freshman actor) to a group of girls at our dining hall that lived on his floor and we sat down and did the typical stuff you would do when meeting a new person. And we began mirroring their tone of voice and expressions rather than physical mirroring, and as they got excited about something, we did and then everybody was just excited and happy. But when I would do it in a long elevator ride or in a line at a dining hall with guys they often shut down and went straight to their phone so there wasn’t much of a conversation to happen. Interesting.

Empathy Assignment #2

So I was eating dinner with this guy at Sadler and I realized, hey what a great place to do this empathy exercise. First I warned the guy I was with that I was going to do an exercise but I was still going to be included in the conversation with him while focusing on somebody else. I mirrored this girl across the room that was eating a stir fry like I was and who was with a lot of people. My movements were more subtle in the sense that I only moved my head when she did or waved around my fork when she did and rested when she did. I did so for about 5 minutes or so. She was very animated with her utensils when she was speaking and even when not doing the exercise, like before I started, I was also fairly animated with whatever “props” were nearby. Whether it be a napkin or a utensil or a pencil. She seemed very aware of everyone around her, but also very invested and passionate in whatever conversation she was having, but after I decided to stop mirroring, my connection with this guy I was eating with was stronger, and I was more invested in our conversation.