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Home > Archive > Apr 10, 2008

From Field to Stage, Shaking Things Up
By Cami Cox
Staff Writer
Snow Canyon High School student Caleb Fielding isn't afraid of leaving his comfort zone – in fact, he thrives on it.
“If I see something that I want to try, I'll usually try it,” Caleb said.
And from the soccer field to the school stage, Caleb, 18, has tried just about everything when it comes to high school activities.
A captain on Snow Canyon's varsity soccer team, Caleb has also run cross country in past years, but this year, he traded in his running shoes for a baton and “76 Trombones” to take the lead in the school musical, “The Music Man.”
Caleb played the role of trickster salesman Harold Hill in Snow Canyon's yearly play. He had watched from the orchestra pit during last year's musical, as a percussionist, but this year, he decided to see the play from an onstage vantage point.
Working a couple of summers in the Tuacahn Amphitheater concessions was the closest Caleb had ever come to stage acting before, though he always thought it would be fun, but he donned Harold Hill's band uniform and emerged through the auditorium curtains like an old pro.
“I just wanted something different, and that seemed like the most different thing I could do – just try to get out of my comfort zone a little bit just to shake things up,” Caleb said.
Caleb's overall bent in high school has been to try new things and get out of his norm. In addition to competing on the soccer and track fields, taking a turn on stage and playing percussion in the school bands and orchestras, he is also a bass in Snow Canyon's madrigal choir. That opportunity came out of nowhere, he said, when school choir director Robert Reimer asked him to fill a position in the choir. Not only had Caleb never been in a choir before, but he had never really tried singing at all and didn't know whether he could do it.
“When he told me he wanted me to be in it, I kind of laughed because I didn't really think he was serious,” Caleb said.
But Caleb accepted Reimer's invitation and joined the choir – just another opportunity to add a new experience and a new skill to his high school repertoire.
“He's just comfortable enough with himself that he can branch out and be involved in lots of stuff and be talented enough to do well at it,” SCHS AP Psychology teacher Danielle Johnson said.
Caleb is a student in Johnson's class – one of two AP courses he's enrolled in this year – and psychology is something else he's interested in. He is currently vacillating between pursuing a college degree in psychology or something business related.
Caleb has also developed an interest in politics from his high school experiences. He participated in the Boys State summer leadership program last year and is also a member of the student council this year, serving as the council member in charge of assemblies and activities for the senior class. Politics was yet another new thing to try for Caleb, and from his experiences, he has developed a penchant for having a hand in the goings-on at school. That has led him to consider the possibility of someday going into city politics, as well.
“So I can have my say and put my 2 cents in,” Caleb said.
Although keeping his grades up and his classes, extracurricular activities and school involvements in balance can be a juggling act sometimes, Caleb said the challenge of trying as many new things as possible has made life a lot more interesting.
“I'd say I'm well-rounded,” he said.
Caleb has a 3.9 GPA at Snow Canyon High and is a member of the National Honor Society. Caleb's parents are Kevin and Julie Fielding, of Santa Clara.

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