Lydia Babcock has taken a long journey to find her way at UToledo.
From musical theater to creative writing, Babcock has directed multiple musicals and plays, and will be graduating with her bachelor of arts degree in English on Saturday, May 4.
CELEBRATING SUCCESS: UToledo recognizes the Class of 2024 with a series of stories featuring students receiving their degrees at spring commencement.
Babcock began her first year of college at Mary Baldwin University with a major in theater arts, during which she continued to apply for other theater programs. This led her to SUNY Geneseo in New York; however, when her scholarships fell through, she was forced to withdraw.
During her second semester, she attended Bowling Green State University, but did not feel it to be a good fit there.
Babcock, who grew up in Grand Rapids, Ohio, decided The University of Toledo was her best and most cost-effective option.
“When I transferred, I was really concerned about graduating on time especially with so many musical theater credits at a school that doesn’t have that as a program,” Babcock said. “I consider my greatest success at UToledo to be that I am going to be able to graduate at the time that I initially planned despite so many difficulties.”
Beginning her sophomore year at UToledo, Babcock decided that she needed a break from musical theater.
“I was reevaluating a lot about my future and my goals by looking at experiences from my past. I’ve been writing little stories and songs for as long as I can remember, and then became more seriously interested in poetry, specifically when I was in high school. Because of my previously very intense focus on musical theater performance, I hadn’t considered poetry or songwriting as more than a hobby until I got to UT and took a creative writing class.”
From musical theater to creative writing, Babcock has directed multiple musicals and plays, and will be graduating with her bachelor of arts degree in English on May 4.
This class was with Tim Geiger, a professor of English.
“I hadn’t taken any sort of creative writing class since high school, and taking his course reminded me why I love reading and writing poetry so much,” Babcock said. “So, it definitely had a lot to do with being able to work with Tim. He was the first person who encouraged me to consider going to graduate school for poetry, and that’s what I’m working towards doing now. “
Geiger said he has been impressed with Babcock as a writer, even from the beginning.
“Lydia is a go-getter. She arrived at UToledo already a strong writer, and in each of my classes she enrolls in she makes exponential improvements,” he said. “Partly, because she is a good reader, and partly it’s because she has clear grasp on what makes great writing, but mostly it’s simply that she dedicates herself to her craft. She has an innate understanding of the power of metaphor, and a natural lyricism to her writing style. It is clear she loves to shape, experiment with and play with language in all its forms.”
Babcock’s honors thesis focused on a subject that combined her passion for creative writing and theater: Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale.” Her paper discussed the prevalence of witchcraft in the play during a time when witchcraft was a significantly more controversial topic.
A friend of Babcock’s from Oberlin College then offered her an opportunity to delve deeper into the play by co-directing a performance of it.
Lydia Babock in a production of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” which she also co-directed.
“He told me that he wanted to put on one of Shakespeare’s plays as his winter term project, and he asked me if I would co-direct with him,” Babcock said. “I jumped at the offer and proposed that we direct ‘The Winter’s Tale’ since I was working on a thesis about it, and therefore, knew all of the ins and outs of the play already.”
Babcock has since directed multiple plays and musicals both in and outside of UToledo. Currently, she is working on a student-written musical called “The Haunting of Spoon River,” which will premiere at the end of this month.
This summer, she will be directing an area production of “The Sound of Music.”
“My current plan for after I graduate in May is to take a gap year to save money and focus on graduate program applications,” Babcock said. “I’d like to get a master of fine arts in poetry and also some sort of professional certification in book arts. Because of this, I don’t have any solidified plans yet, but there are a lot of goals that I am working toward.”
Despite many obstacles, Babcock said that she believes everything had worked out for the best to get her to UToledo.
“I feel like I’ve found a family in the English department here,” she said. “I feel like I’ve found friends that will be in my life hopefully for the rest of my life. I have also been so inspired by the work and enthusiasm of the professors that I’ve taken classes with over the past couple years. There are a lot of great people here that I have so much gratitude for.”
