Breaking Barriers With Breaking The Blocks Improv Workshop

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hi everyone, I am actually recording this a few days before I'm headed to Japan. Um, but I pre uploaded this episode just for you while I'm away so we wouldn't skip, um, a Friday. Um, this is such an amazing episode. I really Loved, um, getting to know Alicia and David and what they're doing at Northwestern.

Um, but before we dive in, um, I just wanted to give a quick recap of the amazing Proud Studder event that we had in Burbank, California. We had over a hundred people come celebrate with us and it was such a successful event. We had celebrities, we had family, friends, allies, partners. people who stutter, speech therapists, our film team, um, our participants.

It was just such a magical [00:01:00] event. And I just wanted to thank everyone for making it such an amazing evening. Um, I especially wanted to thank the Wachowskis for hosting us in their backyard. and Burbank Podcast Studio for sponsoring as well as Disability Rights California and others. Um, and yeah, it was, I'm still on a high and yeah, so, you're listening to this, I'm in Japan, but And I'm hopefully having a great time.

Um, but yeah, without further ado, here's the episode. I'm Maya

Chupkov and I'm a woman who stutters. Welcome to proud stutter, a show about stuttering and embracing verbal diversity in an effort to change [00:02:00] how we talk about it. One conversation at a time.

Welcome back to Proud Stutter. I'm your host, Maya Chupkov. Today we have two guests. Um, we have Alicia Boxer Magnifico. Alicia is a clinical assistant professor at Northwestern University. Um, She focuses on the pediatrics side, um, with children starting at two all the way to teenagers and her passion area is stuttering.

Welcome Alicia to Proud Stutter. Thank you. Happy to be here. And next we have David Catlin. Um, David also works at Northwestern University. David's an acting teacher. Teacher and he owns a local theater, the company in Chicago called the Looking Glass Theater. [00:03:00] And he acts, d d d d d d d d d d d d directs and does adaptations.

And a fun fact about both of them is they're both Northwestern alum. And David, welcome to Proud Stutter. Hi, happy to be here. Yes. So I am so excited to have you guys because I don't know if you know this about me, but I, whenever I talk about my stuttering story, I actually all always reference theater because when I was in middle school and high school, I had always wanted to, um, try out for the school play.

And I just was always afraid to, because of my stutter. Like I didn't want my classmates to like find out that I stuttered. And so I just avoided situations where that would be a possibility. And I just always thought like acting was just such a fun, especially improv would be something I'd [00:04:00] really enjoy.

Um, and so I'm just so excited. I was just so excited when I, um, When I read about your, your breaking blocks program, which we'll get into because it just really touched on that, like personal thing that I always carry with me. Um, but before we kind of get into, um, your, um, stuttering improv program

that you both started, I love to just hear about like your story, like, how did you get To where you are now. I know that's kind of a big, big question. Um, so feel free to start wherever, but yeah, let's get to know you both. Um, and start with Alicia. Yeah. Thanks, Maya. Uh, I am from New Hampshire, grew up on the East coast where Things were not [00:05:00] very diverse.

That was in a small town. It was not very diverse. Um, culturally, religiously, um, and I happen to be a person that was in a minority there. And I, as I was preparing for this podcast, I realized that that may have been where, um, Some of my desire to do things for people who feel as though they're not part of, you know, the mainstream group, um, kind of stemmed from because I felt that way growing up.

And then when I was here at Northwestern as a student in the late 90s, there were Some really big names in the area of stuttering, um, one of whom is still very active. That's Scott Yaris, um, from Stuttering Therapy Resources, uh, and he's at Michigan State University. And, um, Also, Diane Hill, who, um, [00:06:00] I had the opportunity to learn and work with both of them.

So when I went off into the world in my career as a speech language pathologist, I was not necessarily at that time planning to have stuttering be an area that I focused on, but I found myself in places where I was the most equipped person to. work with clients who stuttered. And that combined with my desire to work with people that no one else felt comfortable or you know, I was that person growing up that would always see a person sitting by themselves and go and get them and bring them in.

I, Just kind of organically started working with more and more people who stutter and realized how much I really enjoy it. Um, so that's sort of how I, how I started as a stuttering ally. Amazing. And, and David, I'd love to [00:07:00] hear from you about, yeah, like how you got here. I grew up in Pittsburgh and, um, I, uh, we were doing a, Um, a fundraiser for an eighth grade field trip and they wanted us to sell spices door to door.

These really disgusting bacon bits and other herbs. And I thought, I don't, I would be horrible at that, at trying to sell something that nobody wanted. And so I thought, what if we did a school play to raise money for this big field class field trip that we were going to go on? And, um, and. I wrote the play and I got to be in it with a lot of my eighth grade friends, and that led me to theater.

I had thought I was going to go to Carnegie Mellon, or that's where I wanted to go this big, um, BFA program that had, um, These really great actors. [00:08:00] And I decided I was going to go somewhere else for a couple of years to try to mature a little bit before going into that program. And I came, I was lucky enough to get into Northwestern and on one of the first days here in a lecture hall, one of the acting teachers said that to study theater.

Is to seek to understand what it is to be human and I, my 18 year old brain just kind of cracked open. I, I thought you studied acting to be a great actor. I thought it was all about me being a better actor and, and the idea that, that it was a much bigger calling and, and, and trying to understand. human experience and the breadth of that.

And so suddenly the liberal arts format of Northwestern made all kind of sense. And so that kind of launched [00:09:00] my desire to, to use theater as a means of understanding, The, as much as possible, the human condition, which is kind of sort of a lifelong process and, and, and the, and the breadth and glorious qualities that are, that each person has.

Um, so that's, uh, I ended up, uh, staying here was with a group of people that, um, wanted to start a theater company. And that's, we started looking glass theater. We were taken by that. Kind of the wonder of the stories of Lewis Carroll and we have a very physical company that incorporates, um, elements of circus in it, um, uh, all kinds of multimedia, language, um, and then I ended up, uh, here at Northwestern and, um, Got to [00:10:00] meet incredible people like Alicia.

Yeah. And so how did you guys meet? So I started back at Northwestern almost two years ago and I started in the middle of an academic year. And so I got invited to the new faculty training the following year after I'd already been working here. for six months. And I also had been here for a little while, but I was moved into a new position.

And so even though I'd been here, I was invited to that same new faculty, uh, orientation meeting. And so in a way, neither of us, Either of us could have decided not to go to that meeting, but I think it was during a break, munching on, uh, some kind of sweet roll or something, we bumped into each other, introduced ourselves, and then I think later, later that day, there was another event on the Dean's balcony where, where we [00:11:00] got to talk, uh, Alicia had this idea that she, Wanted to do to, um, bring these two, um, different fields together.

There's, there's been a great, um, movement from, uh, from the dean in the school of communications to get the different departments collaborating together. Um, for a long time, we were sort of siloed and, and thinking about, um, our own little our own areas, our own fiefdoms. And, um, our Dean E. Patrick Johnson, uh, was really interested in making sure that we got to know our colleagues in other departments and, and try to find ways to take what we do and collaborate.

And, uh, uh, Alicia had this Brilliant idea that just seemed to make all kind of sense. [00:12:00] Yeah, I had seen a virtual talk at ASHA, the, um, convention about two months before I started working here and there was a woman named Wendy Duke in Canada, who, had been doing something along these lines with adults who stutter during the pandemic over zoom.

And I was already incorporating elements of improv in therapy for some of the clients who stutter and other populations, uh, more informally. And when I listened to that talk, I thought that could be amazing for kids, especially teenagers, but really it would be great for all age groups. I just needed to start somewhere and found that a lot of the teenagers that I was working with, you know, often hadn't met other kids who stutter.

Um, so I wanted to [00:13:00] start this to give them a sense of community, uh, hadn't had experiences putting themselves out there in various ways, uh, including the performance arts, as you talked about, Maya, that fear of doing that. Um, and so this seemed like a great way to give an opportunity, opportunity to do that, uh, especially because the way we have it set up, there is no audience.

Everybody that is in the room is participating. So you're, you are performing, but more comfortably and, and as a group. Yeah. For each other. Yes. And when, so your, the program is called break the, the blocks and it was, um, kind of developed in like at North Northwestern to help, um, people who stutter with, you know, their, there's confidence and, you know, a lot of other things.

Um, [00:14:00] so when, when was your, like. First, like, when did you launch the program and how did you guys work together to really curate it for that, like, first one? Yeah, we launched it in the winter last year, uh, and we ran our very first series, which was three 90 minute sessions during our winter quarter here.

And then we did our second one. Uh, in the spring, which was also three workshops. And then we just wrapped up our most recent one this quarter, which was four workshops and kind of an expanded experience, um, that I can talk about more, but we, David and I spent the fall of last academic year after we had met talking and planning, uh, and it's been a lot of fun collaborating together because every time we.

talk, we get more ideas, you know, and really realized just how [00:15:00] much communication there is in improv and how the principles of improv really lend themselves to helping with communication. So, um, We've kind of just continued morphing the program, the more that we talk, we also have students that are involved, which is a huge part of what we're able to do here.

Since we are at a university, we have master's students from our speech language and learning program that help to lead it from the beginning. My side. And then we have, yeah, on the theater side, we have, um, we've had three students undergraduates each quarter who have some connection to the improv or comedy scene here at Northwestern, which is, there's a pretty robust improv scene, probably because Second City is here and, um, And there's, there's just been a lot of Viola Spolin, [00:16:00] who's one of the founders of, of, um, uh, the compass players, which became second city.

Uh, she has a lot of books that have improv games in them. That was actually part of the foundation of looking glass. And part of why I was particularly interested in this, we don't, we use improvisation, not so much for comedy, but for. Building backstories to the characters and building relationships. Um, so, but anyway, we were able to, I was able to identify a few students each quarter who, um, could bring in and lead some of particularly some of the improv games.

And that's been, I think it's been a great experience for them. One of the students wrote us saying that she had this newly ignited passion for teaching that she had no idea that she would enjoy. And so she's [00:17:00] already, she's a senior and she's Wants to pursue becoming a teacher and, and using improv to, to help students.

Wow. That is so in, in, in credible. And I know when I, I I've only taken one improv class, but. Like, I feel like I transformed when I, like, took it. Um, because it really just allows you to tap into something that you didn't know was there. So, I just, I can't even fathom, like, how powerful, like, having these workshops are on YouTube.

On, um, on people. So yeah, I'd love to hear about like how, how, how, um, how it's evolved and like what you've been learning and like anything that you're going to take from doing these like first few, um, iterations. Yeah. [00:18:00] So for the first. Three, we've had about 10 participants, give or take. We aimed to have it be all teens and tweens, but we've had a few participants that are a little bit younger, more 10 and 11 for some of the rounds.

We have found that age doesn't actually matter as much as we thought because we've managed to build such a comforting community that everybody supports everyone and it. doesn't matter. Um, one of the things that has been the most powerful or that I've really enjoyed seeing is just how comfortable everyone gets in the space with taking chances.

So even the quietest participants who really don't participate much at all the very first day are in their leading games by the end of even just a few workshops. We have a set of rules that we [00:19:00] create each time and included in them is that you're never required to participate. We offer opportunities, but it's never a requirement.

So I know I mentioned earlier that there's no audience, everyone's in the circle or standing or in the group, but there's never, you're never forced to participate. So we just allow everyone to do what they're ready to do at that time. Um, and They just get so comfortable with one another. Honestly, everyone does, all of the students, all of the participants.

Um, and we have structured it in a way that we start off with participation that's gestural only, and then moving into opportunities to gesture or make sound. And then getting into games and activities that include speaking. And there's always still an opportunity for people to participate without speaking if they want to.[00:20:00]

Um, but our other rules that we have all coincide with improv principles. And this time we created some gestures. To go over long with those rules so that it doesn't seem like we're making these strict, hard and fast rules, but we're just reminding everyone in a fun and playful way of what we need to do in that space to keep it safe and comfortable for everyone.

Do you want to talk about the gesture? Yeah, well, that was your idea and I just loved, um, They're just silly. So, so, um, listening obviously is a really important, um, rule to have that we are all actively listening. And so there's, there's just a silly, almost like an ear horn. Imagine I'm, I'm making a gesture with my hands right now that is a, a giant old timey ear horn.

Um, uh, some of the other gestures are [00:21:00] like, um, uh, believe in yourself. Um, we can, we can, uh, be in a room and fill ourselves with doubts and self judgments, which, um, we've tried to, we try to not have that in the room. Um, we try to, we try to encourage people to, to, Take a chance and believe in whatever their ideas are to put them out there.

And so we have some, uh, gesture where we clutch our hearts together. Um, and the whole series of them becomes a kind of a silly, fun way of reminding ourselves what, um, what rules or, or practices we want to have in the space. So when recruiting people for these workshops. Um, and getting people in the space.

Um, how do you, um, how, like, how do you get people in the workshops? Is it open? [00:22:00] Is it open to like the wider community in like in Chicago? Do you open it up for people who want to come from like outside of the state? Like how does like getting the participants. Um, how do you guys kind of, um, kind of recruit?

Really it would be open to anyone. And one thing that we've been lucky to be able to do, um, with some approvals that we've gotten here at the university is we've been offering these workshops for free because Oh, amazing. I really didn't want funding, you know, and cost to be A factor that made it so that somebody couldn't participate, um, all of the participants that we've had have just been teenagers from the greater Chicagoland area, but we have gotten participants from all over, even some who have driven or taken ubers and things from very far away to come.[00:23:00]

Uh, so, and we've just. advertise, you know, through social media, that sort of thing. We definitely have space, a decent amount of space and could handle more participants than we currently have had. One thing that I've noticed is that the majority of our participants have been females and knowing that the prevalence of stuttering is Four males to one female.

I do feel like there's something we're not currently doing and how we're advertising that is making us miss out on reaching people who would really enjoy what we're doing. So that's something we're wanting to figure out and adapt for future rounds. Yeah. I'm glad that we could just be educating as many people as we can about, about your program.

Um, and like, Now that you've had like a few of these [00:24:00] workshops, um, like what's, what does the future hold? Like, do you have, um, like, like, are, do you kind of have like a big vision of like where you wanted to take it? Or are you kind of just wanting to like do as many of these workshops? Um, as you can, there seems to be so much potential with what you guys are doing.

So I'm just curious, like what your vision is. I think part of it is, well, sort of more immediately, um, one of the things that we have discussed with, with our students, our, um, grad students and undergraduate students There's a handful of students who have been with the program now, at least one, all three sessions and, and they're getting really good and, and so it feels like we would [00:25:00] want to have a program that offered a little bit more complexity in terms of the improv, maybe moving into some long form.

improv, more scene work, even, um, less, uh, we have some, it's, we have introductory games and activities there. There's room. And I think, uh, a hunger for even more complicated versions as the program grows and we bring in more people, uh, it, it, some of the people just coming in will need some of that introductory level.

So there, there's room. Um, being able to offer potentially two sessions or, or they come together as a group and then, um, they split apart for 45 minutes so that the older kids can do, or the, the more veteran, uh, improvisers are able to do. able to go do some more complicated things. We've talked about that a little bit.

Although we really, we [00:26:00] love the spirit of that room and being in there together and, and laughing together and making up new worlds together. Um, so, so we're, we're trying to figure out how best to to get more complicated for the students who, who want that and who are ready for that. That's, that's part of it.

That's more immediate vision. We had one participant this time who told us that Break the Blocks was the best part of his week. Every week. In fact, his fall. Yeah. His whole fall. His whole fall. Which was beautiful. Yeah. Uh, and he was really good. He was just, he was so wonderful. I, I. You, you grow so attached to them as, as, um, people that you're in a room with playing and, and laughing and making worlds that.

When the sessions all end, there's a, there's a little bit of a hole in your heart, [00:27:00] but we'll get to see him in the winter. So, yeah, one other thing we tried to kind of organically add this time as I wanted to try to create a space for. Parents just to help with the environment. So we were able to have a second room in the building that we run these workshops that we offered to parents as a place they could hang out because they are not in the room with us.

Um, as I mentioned, there's no audience. So that's to help create that safe space. But we didn't have as many parents as I had hoped take us up on using that room, that other room. I had hoped that just having a space where they might strike up a conversation with one another might help, you know, the broader environment.

So that's something we need to, to work on. Yeah, think about what else we can do. Um, another idea that we had had and almost did this time, but didn't was to invite [00:28:00] parents or family members in on our last day for a part of the day for them to participate along with us. But the participants voted to not have them in.

They just wanted to continue with the group that we were. So we will see about doing that in the winter. Yeah, I think that's, it's, it's great that like, like maybe each group will have like a different, um, you know, like a different vote for like bringing in that, but it's good that you kind of had that, um, that vote happen.

Yeah. Um, and so David, you have your local theater. Um, is there any like collaboration between the two? Like, do they, like, is, are the, the workshops mostly like at Northwestern or is there any, um, [00:29:00] cause like, I, I get it that you want to keep it like, You know, intimate and like only with the participants and not have an audience, but for those maybe that are in the workshop that maybe want to try doing something more, you know, performative with an audience.

Is there kind of like any interest around that? Like, has anyone from the group emerged and say like, Hey, I actually want to like, try this. Um, In more of like a public setting. Yeah. I mean, there have, there have been, uh, one of the participants who's done all three sessions has talked about wanting to do scene work talked about wanting to audition for plays.

Um, and, and so. I would love for us to figure out a way to support that we were talking about some ideas within the context of what we already have, but I [00:30:00] also love the idea of. Trying to connect it more to Looking Glass, Looking Glass, um, has done a lot of, uh, various programs for schools and, uh, young people across the city.

Nothing particular to the stuttering community yet, um, but this would be a be a great opportunity. We, we worked with, um, uh, Rush Presbyterian and created a memory ensemble several years ago that was for families and, um, who's, who had family members that were early onset, um, diagnosed with early onset dementia.

And that was a, that was a very powerful program for us. And then as the pandemic came, it's sort of that fell apart and, and, um, we're still, we're, we're still rebuilding that. [00:31:00] Our, our, um, Community outreach program, which we call at Looking Glass, we call it the Department of Curiosity, which I think is kind of a name for that.

And, but, but this would be a, a great program. We haven't, I haven't. We haven't really invited a lot of other people in because we're wanting it to be a very, um, kind of curated room so that the students don't feel like they're being watched or observed. But there, but there is certainly a world where I think we could, I could invite some of my Lookingglass colleagues to come in and play with us.

And that would, that would be great. I think take some of the pressure or anxiety of having that around. But, you know, as you're saying that it occurs to me, we We do get some people from Chicago, several of our, our participants are, are from the Evanston [00:32:00] area. Um, and I just wonder if we were able to run a program downtown where our theater is in the, um, Magnificent mile area that maybe we draw some students from, uh, some of the high schools and middle schools that are down there, um, as like a potential after school opportunity and, and partner with looking glass to do that.

I think that would be great. And, and that that could, as you're suggesting, which thank you for this awesome idea. Um, I'm sorry, I got to go. We've got to go plan this right now. Um, uh, that it could, that it could also not just be traditional improv, but improv that is working towards a play that may be part of it is improvised.

Part of it is scripted. Um, so that, so that students would [00:33:00] have an opportunity for, for both. A lot of our storytelling is both with language. And physically. And so. You know, with, with that idea that students could, could participate at, at the level in that moment that they feel most comfortable to, um, or interested in, um, is a really exciting idea, really exciting possibility for one of the ways that this could go.

I would love that. Yeah, we have one participant who did a play, did a summer camp. Program where they put on a play and she was very disappointed that she got a very small role in the play and felt as though she had auditioned well and felt that it was because of her stuttering. So she has directly asked us and David to create [00:34:00] a play specifically for people who stutter.

Because she wants to do one. Wow. So, yeah. Oh my God. That's amazing that she like has you both to kind of go to. Well, we feel lucky because we have her as a person in our lives who's creative and bright and, and, uh, When, when she is improvising, we are, the room is just filled with laughter. She just has a, a really smart, unique outlook and I, uh, creative ideas about every scene that comes up.

I just look forward to it, to every, every time she's, uh, Uh, in the middle of it, um, Yeah. And one of the other things that we do specifically during the workshops is we don't do a lot of direct talking about stuttering. We just give moments where [00:35:00] we're reflecting on how games went or we create them in a way That if a participant wants to talk about their stuttering, they can, if they want to simply talk about the game, they can, if they don't want to talk at all, they do not have to.

And that gives a lot of vulnerable open moments where people do share things. And that same participant is one who just shares some really eloquent and wonderful ideas about the experience of stuttering and I think really help some of the other participants that are a little bit, um, less able to, um, express verbally, um, or less comfortable doing so.

Um, but we also started something this time, this last workshop called shout outs and shout ins, which is an opportunity throughout each workshop. And then at the end [00:36:00] to give somebody in the room. A shout out for something that they did, whether it's related to their improvisation or some other idea that they had.

And then the shout in is if you simply want to think about it yourself and aren't comfortable sharing. But that has been a. Wonderful addition to each workshop and the things that participants have said and shared with each other, um, or even said to the grad students or the theater students that are participating has really been powerful and helps to make it a very welcoming community.

Um, we even have another participant who did it for the first time this fall. And also, um, he did a great job putting himself out there and doing, uh, participating in all of these improv games. He had a wonderful idea our very last session when we were doing the shout [00:37:00] outs, shout ins at the end. And that was to go around in a circle and everyone would say something to the person to their right.

Yeah. And. What everyone said to one another, um, made me tear up. That's for sure. Absolutely. Wow. Um, so, um, just my last question is just like, are there, are there any other things you wanted to share before we close out and also, um, where folks who are interested in learning more, where they can find your work and where they can follow along, one of the things that I'm.

Most proud of in terms of how it's worked out with this program, besides just collaborating with David, which is a lot of fun, is how much this has taken off in terms of being a space for these kids who stutter to participate in something and realize that they're [00:38:00] good at it. This and have it be not in a traditional therapy room, just out, you know, we do it in one of the theater buildings on campus because many of the participants have had speech therapy.

Some are still in it, some are not. And so this is a great way to just be themselves and have that not be what's part of it. But, um, it's turned out to be a little bit of an affinity group as well. Many of them have exchanged numbers with one another. And really look forward to seeing each other each week, and that's been a lot of fun.

So those are some of the things that I'm, I'm really happy they turned out even better than I imagined at the beginning. Um, as far as the program itself, it's through New, the Newcastle Clinic, the Northwestern University Center for Speech Language and Learning, uh, is Where they can contact, [00:39:00] uh, to sign up or get information about it.

Maya, I think you had a guest on recently, or at least, I believe it aired recently. Laron, who was giving some dating tips, maybe? And, and, um, one of the things that I heard him say that as, as we were working, um, uh, on these workshops was, you know, reduce the idea of reducing anxiety and, and that he had some, I think, strategies for that.

And I just feel like there's something about improv, about laughing together where, uh, and making something together and being vulnerable in front of each other. If it's in front of a group of people, it, it could produce anxiety, but we have somehow all together been able to create a space that helps, helps us all reduce anxiety, have that laughter that gives us a little [00:40:00] dopamine hit that, that, um, allows that anxiety to kind of peel away.

And, uh, this. You know, these are, these are, some of them are high school students who are coming in with, um, big AP tests and, um, uh, exams that they, that they're worrying about. And so to come into this space and you see them come in, see these students come in with, with that high anxiety. And then by the, by the, a couple games in that has just dissipated and people are relaxed and having fun and.

Giggling and, and, uh, all of that, all of the stuff that they carry with them as, as high school kids, um, and, and, and middle school students just begins to kind of peel away and, and they can be with each other and, and us and creating all this, [00:41:00] all these different characters and situations. And again, laughing and being silly together is just, um.

I understand why it was the favorite part of the fall for the favorite part of the week for one of our participants. It was the favorite part of my week too. So, um, yeah, I just want, I just wanted to, to add that I feel like we've, um, somehow and intentionally. So done a good job of making a place where anxiety can slip away and we can have fun together and work together and be able to talk and be vulnerable.

Yeah, and along with that, some of the quieter participants, maybe who are feeling extra anxious, have done things like hide inside their jackets at the beginning or behind the black curtains that are in the room where this takes place, and it's been fun to see as [00:42:00] they slowly come out from the curtain or whatever.

maybe aren't ready to fully participate the very first workshop and stay in their chair, but start participating gesturally by tapping their chair or something very small. And then many of those participants by the end of the final workshop in a series have been the ones in the center leading a game or volunteering to start something off.

And it's just been amazing to see. the growth that each of them have from that very anxious beginning to where they've come. We have all participants fill out an entrance survey and an exit survey. So the entrance survey is the beginning of the first workshop in the series and the exit is at the end of the last.

And it just asks them some questions about Whether they've ever, ever done improv before, have they ever met another peer who [00:43:00] stutters, kind of some words about how they're feeling, you know, before the experience and then how they feel after. And many of them have not met another peer who stutters when they first do this.

Many of them list words like fearful, afraid, anxious, uh, at the beginning of the first series and All of the exit surveys have had things like it was thrilling, amazing, wonderful, can't wait to come back. Um, they have particular games that they really enjoy. Um, but everyone has Ended up feeling like they've grown, they've met some real peers that they can relate to, and most of them say they want to come back for the next one.

This sounds like such an amazing program and I'd love to, like, I honestly, like if I [00:44:00] could be involved in it or just like take a, like, Like a session, like I would totally love that. Um, so, um, so yeah, for all you listeners out there, um, definitely check out, um, the, um, break the blocks program at Northwestern.

And you can sign up for the workshop, um, by either calling 847 491 3165 or by Or emailing n u c a s l l at Northwestern dot edu or emailing Alicia directly at Alicia e l i s h a dot Magnifico at Northwestern edu. There's more information in the show notes with the flyer. The workshop coming up in early 2024 is January [00:45:00] 27th, February 3rd, February 10th, February 24th, and March 3rd.

Um, so yeah, um, please, please do this. I wish I could do it and I probably will at some point when I have more time. Um, and yeah, thank you both so much for being here. so much, Maya. It's an honor to be here. Thanks, Maya.

And that's it for this episode of Proud Stutter. This episode of Proud Stutter was produced and edited by me, Maya Chupkov. Our music was composed by Augusto Diniz. And our artwork by Mara Ezekiel and Noah Chupkov. If you have an idea or want to be part of a future episode, visit us at www. proudstutter.

com. And if you like the show, you can leave us a review wherever you're listening to this podcast. Want to leave us a voicemail? Check out our [00:46:00] show notes for the number to call in. More importantly, tell your friends to listen too. Until we meet again, thanks for listening. Be proud and be you.