Debo Balogun ¡¯17 knows how to put the ¡°go¡± in Chicago. The theatre arts and psychology grad has two jobs: During the day he works downtown as an energy consultant who auditions during his breaks; at night and on weekends he rehearses and performs in productions for Chicago-area theatre companies. Right now he¡¯s opening ¡°Moon Man Walk¡± with Definition Theatre Company, and after that will perform ¡°Mary¡¯s Wedding¡± with First Folio Theatre.

¡°So the front half of my 2018 is rather busy,¡± he acknowledged, ¡°but once the smoke clears I¡¯m looking forward to taking some time to breathe, reflect, plan my next move, and figure out what exactly I want to accomplish career-wise.¡±

Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø has prepared him well for ¡°how fast things move in the real world, especially in this industry,¡± Balogun said. ¡°I came out of college with a really solid work ethic and with exposure to a lot of formative creative experience from working with professors and students in and outside the theatre department.¡±

One such experience was his work with Electric Theatre Unplugged (ETU) a campus group composed wholly of students who write, direct, produce, market and perform their own plays. As a senior, Balogun staged and directed ¡°Elephant¡¯s Graveyard¡± at the Village Theatre in nearby Davenport, Iowa, for which he used a diverse cast and production team composed entirely of young theatre artists.

¡°There¡¯s a lot of hunger and passion among the student body to prove their worth,¡± he said. ¡°It was that ¡®I will be the master of my own destiny¡¯ attitude that helped me succeed as a student and is helping me succeed now.¡±

He also took advantage of campus resources that help students reach their destiny, which for most equals a career path and successful career. He went to CORE (Careers, Opportunities, Research, Exploration) often as a junior, which helped get him get to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London to study Shakespearean acting for 10 days that summer, using his $2,000 with Augie Choice.

After his experience at RADA, Balogun created an in-depth character study of the Shakespearean character Othello for his Senior Inquiry project at Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø¡ªa ¡°dream role¡± he said he was ¡°given the opportunity to tackle as part of the theatre department¡¯s inaugural season in the new Brunner Theatre Center.

¡°It was arguably the most ¡®liberal arts¡¯ thing I¡¯ve done,¡± he said. ¡°I pulled from the performance tactics I learned at RADA, historical knowledge and knowledge I got from my psychology classes.¡±

The experience is great for his r¨¦sum¨¦, too. Career-wise, Balogun would like to transition to on-screen acting eventually, and to focus on writing original work. At Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø he wrote and performed poetry and skits, and he is drawn to productions that are ¡°lathered with metaphors and symbols and imagery.¡± His role in Dr. Jennifer Popple¡¯s production of ¡°Machinal¡± when he was a junior was instrumental to this value, he said.

For now, Balogun only has the time to focus on the now. But there is one thing he knows for sure: ¡°This field of work is my calling¡ªit is what I was meant to do.¡±

What that means to him specifically is ¡°wildly unknown¡± at this moment. But it seems clear that success will come to his particular ¡®master of his own destiny,¡¯ whatever the specific form it takes.