Elisa’s Reflections on the Humanities Faire, 2025-26

Elisa played George Stephenson, a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer and renowned as the "Father of Railways.” Elisa is a Sophomore and one of our international students. She hails from Taizhou of the Jiangsu Province in China, not far from Shanghai.

From September to the performance in late October, we did a great job for the Humanities Faire. Researching, preparing for costumes, drawing, scripts, games and markets, everything came together, and we finally made it!! There were so many beautiful drawings, fun activities and interesting goods in the Faire, and it was such a success. This year, I was George Stephenson, a British engineer in the 1800s. I did a lot of research, and learned more about him, his locomotives and railways. I worked on fun games making  origami railways and a Monopoly style game where I sold railway deeds during the market time. It was a joyful ending and I actually learned a lot through the Humanities Faire time. 

I improved my stress management skills during this Humanities Faire season. While I learned how to manage stress during last year’s Humanities Faire, my skill improved this year through working on my script, activity, and the market. When I was preparing for the market, I was worried about many things, like how I can ask people to come to my store, how I can sell my railway deeds, and why people should buy it or what the benefits are. I didn’t know how I could explain myself and my goods. I put all the research information together and picked up what I needed, and then formulated the ideas into sentences that I needed to communicate at the market. I also picked many helpful sentences from my script and the guidance Josiah gave me. Prior to the Faire, I was able to practice my sales presentation, which helped me succeed. All of this preparation helped me to reduce stress as well as improved my performance. 

I also improved my teamwork skills. Last year, I didn’t genuinely work with partners or help my group because I was new to the school and my English skills weren’t strong yet. However this year, I worked with Josiah and Elizabeth a lot for scripts, activities, and the market. When we practiced selling on the Jesse Farm, I was nervous and didn't know what to do. Elizabeth showed me how to introduce myself and the railway deeds as well as how to show these deeds to guests. She also helped me pronounce words correctly, and encouraged me that I can do it. During the market time, she helped to bring guests to my little “store” and introduced my goods to them. I appreciate her very much. 

It also helped me learn how to perform better. In my role, I needed to act confused, shocked, and express other emotions. I learned to use my face and body better and practiced to be an “actress”. That was really fun and literally helped me a lot to perform better and be more confident.