People

Maggie Poost

Maggie Poost headshot

About

Hi, I’m Maggie! I am a rising junior, and after a long time considering an independent concentration in food studies, I have ultimately declared an anthropology major and am pursuing certificates in theater, food & the environment, and hopefully creative writing. I have been involved with several theater productions (in the theater program and through Theatre Intime) on campus in both performing and design capacities, am a member of the Princeton Bhangra dance team, and served as a Poetry Director of Arch & Arrow Literary Collective; I am absolutely up to talking about any of those roles. I am also inordinately passionate about different methods of food fermentation, folklore, and genre bending. Talk to me about mimes!

I grew up on a hay farm in rural Pennsylvania, where I graduated from a small, low-income public high school in a class of 90 people. Though I did a lot of theater growing up, when I got to Princeton I was paralyzed by the magnitude of available opportunities and the depth of talent surrounding me. Fearing that I did not stack up against my peers in the arts, I initially turned away from them, trying to convince myself that there was no place for my passions in an environment saturated with individuals who seemed far above my abilities. Who was I, a small town amateur, to walk up to acclaimed authors and Broadway professionals? Staying away didn’t work though, and it made me really sad. Writing and performing seeped back into my schedule; and as I allowed myself to revisit my passions, I realized that instead of being something to stay away from, making stuff was actually the only way I could truly feel fulfilled in this competitive environment.

The creative writing, theater, and visual arts courses have been the most enriching and joyful segments of my time here so far, genuinely transforming the way I conceptualize other academic questions. Interdisciplinary creative thinking is the way to solve the big problems that our generation faces (like climate change!), so I encourage anyone thinking about it to enroll in an arts course and think critically about how the experience speaks to issues you face in other parts of your life. If you feel intimidated or out of place at the prospect of engaging in the campus arts community, please feel free to reach out. I work at Coffee Club, so I can get us some good coffee!

 

Class of '22

Programs in Creative Writing and Theater

Residential College

Whitman

Email Address

mpoost@princeton.edu