This past week, the Communication Department Studio, a black box theater in Garey Hall, hosted two performances of an original show created by Villanova senior Minh-Chau Scott. Titled Glad I Exist, the one-woman production combined multiple artistic mediums that allowed Scott to produce a story about her research on happiness. She focused on how conditions for happiness have been changing quite drastically. By taking inspiration from her own life, Scott demonstrated the small ways people find happiness while also staying true to the research behind the project.
In the show, Scott used poetry, song and more to reminisce on the music, food and pop culture of her childhood. This allowed audience members to connect to the show through their own experiences and happy memories.
“My favorite part of the show was the moment when I asked the audience to sing ‘Wannabe’ by The Spice Girls with me. It’s something small and silly, but it was a moment that was really what I intended it to be—a shared moment of joy between performer and audience. I wanted everyone to leave feeling like they’d shared something with each other and with me,” Scott said.
Whether it’s the Spice Girls or any other music reminiscent of childhood, the show helped to reignite memories of pure fun and show that the nostalgia people feel for the things they grew up with are linked very closely with our ideas of happiness.
Even the posters for Glad I Exist that have graced walls on campus the past few weeks ignited a cheerful reaction in students. Colorful and somewhat eclectic, the posters featured doodles of a smiley face, an orange, a paper airplane and piano keys. From the start, it was clear that Glad I Exist was a one-of-a-kind approach to a research presentation.
“I hope that the audience left better able to think about their own happiness and other people’s happiness, and I hope they left with a moment of joy,” Scott said.
With the success of Glad I Exist, one can only hope that these kinds of creative senior research projects can become more commonplace at Villanova. In a preview of the show published by The Villanovan, Scott described her show as a “softer, more artistic Ted Talk,” perfectly encapsulating the unique ways she was able to present her findings and connect them not only to her life, but the lives of her fellow students.
