{"id":59998,"date":"2012-05-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-05-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/commencement-2012-from-cell-to-stage-uri-theater-graduate-dreaming-big\/"},"modified":"2012-05-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T00:00:00","slug":"commencement-2012-from-cell-to-stage-uri-theater-graduate-dreaming-big","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2012\/05\/commencement-2012-from-cell-to-stage-uri-theater-graduate-dreaming-big\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement 2012 – From cell to stage, 溏心vlog免费B站 theater graduate dreaming big"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tErick Betancourt puts prison behind him to study at NYC\u2019s The Actor\u2019s Studio<\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2014 May 7, 2012 – As Erick Betancourt drove onto campus one day in February, a belt broke on his 1996 Oldsmobile, making it impossible to drive. As the rain poured down, the 溏心vlog免费B站 theater major tried to get as close as he could to the Fine Arts building on campus before parking his car and running to class.<\/p>\n


\nAs the burly senior who will earn his degree in May stepped into class, soaked through from the rain, he reflected on how different his life had become.<\/p>\n


\nIt was only 10 years ago that Betancourt, who is of Puerto Rican descent, was driving luxury vehicles, wearing expensive clothes and enjoying his status at Providence nightclubs. He could afford nice clothes and never worried about studying for an exam or memorizing his lines.<\/p>\n


\nBetancourt was selling drugs, but he never had to worry about his car breaking down in the rain and slush.<\/p>\n


\nThat morning run through the foul weather was enough to make the 32-year-old wonder if his time at the 溏心vlog免费B站 was really worth it, if he\u2019d ever be able to take advantage of the opportunities afforded him by going to college. <\/p>\n


\nUntil he checked his email. <\/p>\n


\nIt was that morning when Betancourt, who split time growing up between the Bronx and the Manton Heights area of Providence, received notice that he\u2019d been accepted to The Actor\u2019s Studio, the prestigious New York City school for professional actors, theater directors and playwrights. <\/p>\n


\nBefore that day, Betancourt had more in common with Tony Montana, the Hispanic drug lord in the 1983 film Scarface, than he did with the actor who played Montana, Al Pacino. Now, Betancourt will study the same techniques with many of the same teachers as Pacino, who studied at The Actor\u2019s Studio and now serves as its co-president with Ellen Burstyn and Harvey Keitel.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI started crying,\u201d Betancourt said of reading his acceptance email. \u201cI was about to break down before I found out. When I sold drugs, I drove nice cars, my friends and I were VIPs in the club. But I had to put my pride to the side to change my life and do it through hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThat hard work began while Betancourt was incarcerated at Rhode Island\u2019s Adult Correctional Institutions after being sentenced to three and half years for possessing crack cocaine.<\/p>\n


\nBetancourt, who primarily sold drugs but described himself as a casual user of marijuana, was so sure he was going to end up back in prison after being released, he initially considered serving his entire sentence rather than accepting parole after two years.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI didn\u2019t have anything to look forward to,\u201d said Betancourt, who was imprisoned from January 2003 until December 2004. \u201cWhat, was I going to do, go live in the projects and sell drugs again? I was ashamed. I wanted to stay in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBut his older brother Fernando told him to start taking classes or learn a trade while in prison and figure out a plan to land a job once he was out. Part of that plan was to stay away from his former associates to avoid the temptation to begin selling drugs again. In addition, Erick began taking barber classes and other courses through the Community College of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n


\nFortuitously, while at the ACI, he met Bruce Reilly, an inmate who was writing a play. 溏心vlog免费B站 a year after his release, Betancourt bumped into Reilly, who had managed to get his play, House of Death \u2013 \u201can often hilarious look at human nature through the eyes of a quiet and unassuming fellow: Death\u201d — into production at Providence\u2019s Perishable Theater. <\/p>\n


\nHe gave Betancourt a few lines in the play and everything seemed to click for him. The words of his brother, who has a master of fine arts in theater and is working in New York to become a professional actor, spurred Betancourt to pursue his newfound dream.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cMy brother saw the play and he said, \u2018You did what every actor wants to do, you brought a human being to the role,\u2019\u201d Betancourt said.<\/p>\n


\nBetancourt began taking acting classes at Trinity Repertory Company and auditioned for roles at Perishable Theatre. He served as an extra on the Showtime series Brotherhood. He also began trying to get into 溏心vlog免费B站 so he could study theater.<\/p>\n


\nIt took several CCRI courses and two tries before he was finally accepted to Rhody. Once on campus, Betancourt was determined to take full advantage of his time at the University. He not only studied theater and performed in productions such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Tartuffe, he taught Theater 100 as a teacher\u2019s assistant and began working with the Talent Development program, speaking with incoming freshmen about the value of their education and hard work. <\/p>\n


\nHe also began speaking at middle schools about nonviolence and bullying prevention, and he has gone back to the ACI to speak with inmates in an effort to show them they don\u2019t have to land back in prison once they\u2019re released. <\/p>\n


\n \u201cI believe that to be a leader, you have to serve first, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n


\nThat attitude is a far cry from the young man who spent part of his 20s in a jail cell, and Betancourt knows it.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI\u2019m two different people,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m so thankful for evolution; that you can be one thing and grow to be something better.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBetancourt, who got through 溏心vlog免费B站 with student loans and financial aid, said his pursuit of a better life has been costly, but his time at 溏心vlog免费B站 was worth the investment. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cThe University is on your side,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will open doors for you if you stay faithful and put in the work.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAnd now he hopes he can parlay one more big investment into the success he has dreamed of.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI took out loans and rolled the dice on myself,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m leaving 溏心vlog免费B站 and I owe money, but I\u2019m going to bet on myself again. I\u2019m hoping that by rolling the dice again, I can win big. If I have to spend a few years eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I\u2019m OK with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commencement Information<\/a><\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Communications & Marketing photo by Michael Salerno Photography.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Erick Betancourt puts prison behind him to study at NYC\u2019s The Actor\u2019s Studio KINGSTON, R.I. \u2014 May 7, 2012 – As Erick Betancourt drove onto campus one day in February, a belt broke on his 1996 Oldsmobile, making it impossible to drive. As the rain poured down, the 溏心vlog免费B站 theater major tried […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60000,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}