Jamal Crowelle (E&H ’10) says his former E&H theatre teacher gave him and his classmates a great lesson. “Dr. Biliana Stoytcheva-Horissian told us, ‘If you can’t handle the word NO then theatre…no…life is not for you.’”

Jamal is in the entertainment field now and he says he fights through every single “no” he’s ever been given. “I fail a lot. I fail pretty much every day. But I was taught by every single one of my teachers (especially Dr. B.) to not quit. To never quit. I was taught that ‘no’ is a necessity to get better and not a wall to block your way.”

If Jamal’s life lesson from E&H sounds a little like advice from Star Wars’ Yoda, that is appropriate given his current position. Jamal is working currently at Disney World in the show Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple. He is playing the Jedi Master who teaches kids how to be Jedi. The children even get to “face their fears” and duel villains from the movie like Darth Vader. Jamal describes it as, “Pretty geeky cool!”

Before moving to Orlando, he had been in New York City for two years, and after his Disney gig he plans to head back to New York. “It’s one of the hardest, yet most fulfilling places to live. It is a place of theatre, film, tv, model work, web series work, improv, stand-up, voiceover…well, everything.”

After absorbing good advice from his E&H mentors, he is now ready to dispense advice to current students who are following his path. “I would say don’t be afraid to be weird. Find that honest thing that makes you get up in the morning and puts fire in your belly. And even if it’s weird, go do that thing. It’s your life.”

Jamal wants to try every aspect of entertainment and “shoot for the moon! Who doesn’t want to do Broadway or be in a big superhero film!” In fact he loves super heroes…especially Superman. “Always Superman. And probably Yoda.”

So, watch for his future success, we will.