Meet RESPECT Actor Educator: Angel Hernandez

What is your favorite RESPECT educational play?

My favorite RESPECT play would probably be Stop and Think, In the show I get to play a character called Alex, Dr. Smartypants’ best friend and the one who gets caught up in the middle between two of his friends fighting. This one’s my favorite because the message is something that anyone of all ages can relate to. Sometimes there’s going to be moments in our life whenever we’re feeling really angry, depressed, or too happy. Sometimes it’s okay to be feeling like this, but we need to think about how these emotions could affect ourselves or hurt others, and to Stop and Think, take a deep breath, and gather ourselves. I also love performing this show with my fellow cast members, we all are good friends outside of RESPECT and our chemistry with each other makes the show feel very real and special.

What is the best part of your job?

I would have to say that the best part of my job would be coming into work everyday and seeing not only my coworkers, but my friends whom I’ve known since before I started working for RESPECT. We all get along with each other so well, we love to crack jokes, listen to music, and just generally enjoy each other’s company. Whenever I first moved to Omaha back in 2021, I was 19 and I thought that making friends was going to be one of the hardest things. Luckily the theater scene proved me wrong. I met Conner and Belle during Omaha Community Playhouse’s production of “Hello, Dolly!”. We became great friends and being able to work with them puts a great smile on my face.

What is the best part of your interactions at RESPECT programs?

What is something that you’ve learned by being part of RESPECT?

Everyone is going through something. Some might think that what they’re going through isn’t as bad as what others might be dealing with, so they keep them concealed. Or some people think that they have no one to talk to. I’ve learned that it’s always okay to have big emotions, sad, angry, happy, etc. And that it’s always ok to ask for help. In my time at RESPECT, whenever we do our after school programs, Some of the kids that I work have told me that they found it easy talking to me, or to our group, about some situations that they’re dealing with and how they’ve taken a lot of what we teach and tried to implement them into their own lives or their community.