By: Annika Minges

The sun has just risen across the horizon of the University of Washington. Stefan Previs knows that if he doesn’t muster the strength to get out of bed, he will certainly be late for his 8am class. He finds his last drop of motivation in the thought of how upset his mother, and alumni, would be if she knew he was skipping class.

Stefan has had to have this type of self-discipline since he was 6, when his mother suddenly passed away due to a brain aneurysm. Previs says that losing his mother at such a young age has impacted almost every aspect of his life. Previs recalls the months after her death as being, “scary, because I didn’t truly understand the ways in which her death would impact me.” To help Previs cope, his father, Eddie, suggested he audition for a play.

After his first audition with Krayon Kids Production Company, Previs fell in love with the ability to dress up and pretend to be someone else, even if just for a few hours. His older sister, Emma, explains that, “you could tell that being allowed to pretend he was someone else helped him grieve the loss of our mom.” As a single father of four children, Eddie wasn’t able to continue funding Stefan’s participation in Krayon Kids. Instead, Stefan began performing improvisation routines for his family in their living room.

Stefan’s peers began to notice that he was performing in plays, instead of playing sports like most boys. Years of endless taunting followed as Stefan continued acting. Regardless of anything anyone said, he never stopped performing, eventually deciding he wanted to pursue a career in it. The University of Washington has an amazing drama department, and Previs decided he wanted to go there just like his mother once did. He applied, only to receive a rejection letter right three days before high school graduation. Without a backup plan, he was forced to watch all his friends leave for college, which only furthered his anguish of being rejected from his dream school. He decided that his dreams deserved a second chance.

After filling out another application and months of waiting, another letter arrived from UW. This time it was thick with acceptance paperwork. Now in his second semester, Previs is pridefully pursuing degrees in both drama and nonprofit management, one day hoping to own a kids production company similar to Krayon Kids. Previs says the confidence he gained through acting is what pushed him to continue chasing his dreams. Even though it’s early, he walks to class each day knowing that “[his] mother would be so proud of all he’s accomplished.”