Alumni Story

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”– Maya Angelou

An actress known for various roles including her role as Agent Astrid Farnsworth on the FOX series “Fringe,” Jasika starred as Carly Lever, head of pathology, on ABC’s “The Good Doctor,” and guest starred as Kim Muñoz in “Scandal.” Right now, due to the writers’ strike that has brought production to a near standstill, Jasika is not working on any projects. She adds, “even before the strike, things had been very slow for many months with the prospect [of the strike] looming.” She has been going to pickets in support of the WGA when she can and enjoying filling her time making and creating. She shares that “in addition to sewing I also have a tiny pottery studio at home. I build and reupholster furniture, make shoes, illustrate, and write - I love to keep myself busy with creative projects!”

Explaining why she chose to major in Theatre Arts, Jasika laughs, “Did I choose my major or did my major choose me? I have always loved theatre and loved performing, and I knew I wanted to build a career out of it if I could be so lucky. A theatre degree has never been necessary to start a career as an actor, but I have always liked educational settings and knew that if I had a solid understanding of the art and the work I wanted to do, it would only make me more confident and competent once I graduated and tried to make some dreams come true.”

Catawba turned out to be the best choice for Jasika. But it wasn’t her first choice. “In all honesty, I chose Catawba because I didn’t get into my dream school,” Jasika admits with amusement. “I had pinned my entire future on getting into NYU, and I was pretty devastated when I didn’t get in. I didn’t really have a backup plan, so I started going to local college fairs and my high school theatre teacher suggested I look into Catawba, which I had never heard of before. She said it was one of the top theatre schools in the country which piqued my interest.”

Her family was not financially prepared to pay for college, and Jasika missed the audition deadline for theatre scholarships, but an assortment of academic scholarships added up and paid for a significant part of her tuition allowing her to enroll at Catawba. “I figured I had nothing to lose,” she adds.

“Thankfully it was the best decision I could have made. I ended up thriving in a smaller school like Catawba where I felt seen, heard, and connected to the faculty and student body in ways I can’t imagine I would have in a much larger school.”

She found that the Theatre Arts program at Catawba was not a place where actors hone one aspect of their art, but instead, it provides a multi-disciplinary approach. “The theatre department is the opposite of a conservatory in that it forces you to experience and study the theatre from various perspectives, no matter your area of interest or talent. So even if all you came to Catawba wanting to do is perform on stage, you will still graduate having a new respect and understanding for the other departments that help bring a production to life.” It is an appropriate conclusion to reach that Jasika discovered the value of that comprehensive method to the study of theatre arts. She remarks, “Over the course of my time at Catawba I saw so many people find their passion in an area of theatre that they originally knew little to nothing about, and even though I ended up being a professional actor which was my original plan, I left with a newfound obsession for sewing, which I learned how to do in my Costume Design class. All these years later I spend pretty much all of my free time sewing.” Jasika has been sewing all of her own clothes - “literally all of them”- for about seven years.

Out of insights from her experience, Jasika advises students, “Find your joy and practice it daily! I don’t encourage people to find what they love and then make a career out of it; I encourage people to simply find a way to consistently involve what they love into their lives. Culturally we have this idea that if you are good at something you have to monetize it, and if you can’t, it isn’t worth doing. I strongly reject that idea, I think that nurturing a passion, whether you’re good at it or not, has a tremendous impact on your quality of life, your connection to other people, and how you feel about yourself.”

Television and film are not all glamor, Jasika explains, “there are certainly times when it feels fun and exciting, but it’s still a job. Bad bosses, annoying coworkers, pay and treatment disparity, long hours, creative differences.” She realized it was also important “to build a rich, artful life for myself outside of the work I do.” She elaborates, “I am thrilled with the many roles I have gotten to play over the years, and I hope I get to play even more, but I also recognize my value now outside of the ‘yeses and noes’ that productions and audiences give me. It’s one of my favorite things I have learned about myself as I have gotten older: I am just as worthy in front of the screen as I am off of it.”

Jasika returned to campus in 2012 as the speaker at the morning Commencement ceremony. She shared candidly about her sacrifices and struggles in her dream to move to New York City and act on Broadway, and that while television, film, and commercials became a reality, Broadway had not. Addressing the graduating seniors she encouraged them, “My hope for you, Class of 2012, is that you embrace the responsibility of drafting your own stories with gratitude and grace, that you allow yourselves to be swept up in the beautiful, unexpected moments of your life without losing sight of what makes you feel both happy and whole."  As life unfolds, it offers unforeseen opportunities and new dreams. Jasika eventually exchanged Manhattan to enjoy West Coast living. In 2016, Jasika was inducted into the Catawba College Blue Masque Hall of Fame. She was recently recognized with the HRC Visibility Award at the 2022 HRC Louisiana Dinner. In building her artful life, Jasika continues to keep sight of what makes her feel happy and whole.