“Going to that [certificate] meeting has changed my life for the better. I have a lot of the same friends that I did before then, but I really have expanded my horizons and know more people now,” Marina Logue (12) said. “Wherever I go for college, even if there’s no one from Harker, if I join a choir or an a capella group, there’s always going to be an instant home for me.”

Hugging her knees to her chest, Marina Logue (12) leans back on the wall of the performing arts center, a smile making its way onto her face every few seconds. She laughs as she reminisces about memories with her friends, her voice clear and sharp but also with a hint of softness.

“When my dad drove me to [the freshman Conservatory] meeting, I was in tears, I was like, ‘Why would you make me do this?’” she said. “But my dad wanted me to have options in high school, and he told me that it’s literally only two hours so we were going to go and sit there and listen and then make my decision.”

Marina only started performing arts in high school after her parents made her attend the mandatory meeting for freshmen interested in the Conservatory certificate program. After a couple of days, she decided to switch her elective to Bel Canto, launching her performing arts career.

Shortly after switching electives, Marina auditioned for productions at Harker, where she began to act. Through acting, Marina was able to make a connection to one of her favorite hobbies since a young age: reading. Both interests allow her to pretend to be someone else, at least for a little bit.

“I haven’t had a role yet that I haven’t been able to draw from my own life. In the fall play, I played a mother who lost both of her children, and obviously, I don’t have a lot in common with that character,” she said. “Still, dealing with the death of a family member of the death of a friend, you can draw upon those experiences and those emotions to help your performance.”

Marina finds that through performing arts especially, it’s important to have a special bond with other castmates in order to play a role successfully.

“I’m in Student Directed Showcase right now, and there’s not been a single rehearsal in the last few weeks that we haven’t played some sort of game to begin,” she said. “In every show I’ve been in, the characters have some relationship with each other, so you have to be able to have some sort of real relationship with them to be able to draw upon that as you’re performing.”

Marina’s student director, senior Neha Premkumar, became close friends with her after they both joined the upper school choir Camerata in sophomore year. In the last two years, Neha has gained an appreciation for Marina’s inner self, which exudes loyalty and respect.

“I think she has a mom personality,” Neha said, speaking to Marina’s character. “That’s not what you think when you first meet her but then as you go on, you notice these things like how much effort she puts in and how much she truly cares that you’re doing okay. I think that’s a really big part of her personality that most people don’t know about.”

While she invests effort into the relationships with the people around her, Marina found that she also had to dedicate time toward improving her singing voice.

“Acting came relatively naturally to me—singing was different. I took study of theater freshman year, so that really kickstarted the theater thing,” she said. “With singing, there’s a lot more technical work involved; every year, my singing voice has been drastically different just because it’s been maturing, but also I’ve been getting better.”

Meghna Phalke (12), who is in the upper school choir Cantilena with Marina, appreciates her constant desire to improve and work hard, something that she doesn’t see among other people.

“She’s not what everyone thinks of her because she’s one of the sweetest people,” Meghna said. “Once she had a hair tie on her wrist, and I mentioned that I liked it, and she took it off and gave it to me. I mentioned that I was hungry, and she somehow brought me food in the next ten minutes…she really is someone who cares so much about the people around her.”

After going through four years of plays, musicals and concerts, Marina accredits all of her achievements in performing arts to her going to the certificate meeting in freshman year.

“Going to that [certificate] meeting has changed my life for the better. I have a lot of the same friends that I did before then, but I really have expanded my horizons and know more people now,” Marina said. “Wherever I go for college, even if there’s no one from Harker, if I join a choir or an acapella group, there’s always going to be an instant home for me.”