Getting on stage, tying his running shoes, or undocking his ship, junior Sawyer Kerrigan loves to try new things.
No matter how scary they are.
Kerrigan began his acting career in his freshman year of high school when he took Introduction to Theater, a class taught by theater teacher Mr. Michael Shelton. He has become heavily involved in the theater community ever since.
However, that doesn’t mean it was easy for him to start acting.
“For me, getting on stage and doing scary things was really uncomfortable at first, but over time, it was something that I found to love,” he said.
Getting on stage is just one part of why Kerrigan loves theater. He also loves all the friends he has made doing it.
“The theater community was the first space at the school where I really felt at home,” he said. “Everybody was just so fun to be around and super kind and gracious my freshman and sophomore year. It was incredible. It just felt like a second home.”
Kerrigan respected the upperclassmen when he joined. Now, as an upperclassman, he has to fill their shoes, becoming a role model for younger students.
“It’s a really cool thing to think about,” he said. “I also have to base the way I act off of that — not just in theater, [but] through classes and cross country now. I have to be that leader I had; I want to make sure that everybody else has that special experience like I did.”
Kerrigan doesn’t just live on stage — he also competes on La Salle’s cross country team, a place where community is abundant.
He started running on the team for the first time this year, but has been running on his own for longer.
Kerrigan was on the soccer team his freshman and sophomore years, a sport he has played since before he can remember. He still has a love for soccer, saying he will play with friends from time to time, but as he’s gotten older, the level of competition has caused him to pursue other activities he is passionate about.
He initially started running to get in shape for soccer, and as he found that he felt more in touch with his body, it was easy for his friends to convince him to start running for La Salle.
Kerrigan feels that the sport is a better fit for him.
“The community with cross country has been so close knit,” he said. “Everybody understands all the struggles that you go through with running.”
Kerrigan deeply cherishes running, as he said he, “discovered this amazing thing that I can carry with me forever.”
Outside of school, Kerrigan enjoys exploring the arcane, reading fantasy books throughout his childhood, and now finds himself lost in the mystical worlds of sci-fi and dystopian novels.
He enjoys playing the guitar, which he taught himself within the past year. He also had played piano for four years, though he never found a passion for it because he couldn’t play the songs he loved.
However, he can play the songs he loves on guitar, like Bruce Springsteen, which he grew up listening to with his father. Kerrigan really appreciates the deep meaning in “Born in the U.S.A.,” and loves to sing along when he plays.
Besides Bruce Springsteen, Kerrigan likes to listen to classic rock, pop, and rap, and said he is “all over the place” when it comes to music. Recently, he has been listening to Tyler, the Creator’s new album, “Chromokopia.”
Family is integral to Kerrigan.
His family, consisting of his two parents, little brother, and little sister, have a movie night every Saturday. He has loved supporting his younger siblings to grow and develop as people, trying to guide them through life. Despite both his siblings being younger than him, he tries his best to learn from them.
“They’re really kind people, and they always do the right thing,” he said. “I think that’s something that I really admire about them.”
Each summer, Kerrigan’s family takes a trip to Chebeague Island in Maine for two months to visit relatives. “A lot of my childhood was there, so getting to relive that every summer is pretty cool,” he said. “I feel like I’m always a kid.”
He has made friends with all of the kids in the town, and appreciates reconnecting with them during his visits. Since it’s a small community, everybody gets along and enjoys hanging out regardless of age differences.
While Kerrigan enjoys the vacation — which is a family tradition stretching back to his mother and grandparents — he expressed that it can be difficult spending extended periods of time away from Portland.
One of the big things Kerrigan enjoys doing in Maine is sailing. He started sailing in third grade at the Chebeague Island Sailing School, where he now teaches. He sometimes struggles to get back on the water after not sailing for 10 months, although he always persists.
“It can be scary sometimes, [being] in a storm or something,” he said, but “overcoming that and growing from it every time, I hope I can take that with me.”
While Kerrigan is still trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life he looks forward to trying new things.
“It’s something that I’ve gotten used to and gotten excited about,” he said. “There’s so many cool things to take from new experiences that a lot of people would be scared to do.”
