Not your average freshman
Living in a new location, with people you have never met in person, can be a hard adjustment, especially for college students who for the first time in their lives are stepping away from the shelter of their hometowns and families.
This is all too true for Castleton freshman and California native Cydney Krone.
“Vermont was a big culture shock,” Krone said, “because there were a lot of things that were different… I was so used to my sister helping me with so much, like my papers and all of that and being babied in that way, so there was a lot of personal growth.”
But if she was battling anxiety, you couldn’t tell from looking at her. Krone has taken the campus by storm, with the pinnacle being her leading role as Sarah Brown in the recent musical on campus, “Guys and Dolls.” And it doesn’t look like she is going anywhere anytime soon.
“I really loved Castleton more than I thought I would. I didn’t really think that I would fall in love as much as I did,” Krone said.
How did Castleton attract such a talented singer/actor from the star-studded state of California?
Its small size did the trick.
“I didn’t want to stay in LA where I couldn’t build up a resume. So, I said ‘hey, why don’t I go to a small town, so I could build up a resume… but I didn’t find the college myself, my best friend Becky found it and suggested it to me online,” Krone said.
Before she was able to make her way to Castleton as a student though, she had to audition to get into the musical theater program.
“She was shorter than I thought that she was going to be, she was dressed impeccably, and she was behaving in a professional manner, bright eyed, I mean she flew across the country to do this audition, and she sang very well,” said Harry McEnerny, head of the theater department who oversaw her audition.
Krone would then proceed to be placed in McEnerny’s FYS course, Acting 1, where he could really see how she acted.
“She very quickly established herself as the level to which other people would aspire. I think I can say that the rest of class looked at her the first time she went and said ‘oh, oh that,’” McEnerny said.
Her classmates took note of her personality as well as her talent.
“She’s very enthusiastic, so she tries to get everybody to participate, which made a great classroom atmosphere,” said Katelyn Sanders, another student in McEnerny’s FYS.
Krone also immediately joined multiple different vocal groups on campus, and her voice began to impress more than just McEnerny.
“She is a fabulous singer, and she seemed very shy, and now I know she isn’t,” said Saige King, the leader of the Vocal Unrest acapella group on campus.
However, the move from her high school choir group to the many different vocal groups at CU has brought some challenges.
“I sing by ear, I don’t know how to read music at all, so when people are reading music and singing along, and they think I am too, I’m not, secret’s out!” Krone said laughing.
The most noticeable thing about Krone though, regardless of your relationship with her, is her work ethic.
“She prepares material extremely well,” said McEnerny, “That manifested itself in her audition, it manifested itself in her performance, and it manifested itself in her rehearsals. It comes from an incredible place of hard work.”
That hard work is what led her to her leading role in the musical.
“When I walked into Castleton, I was ready for the fucking musical. The minute I walked in I was ready for the musical and I was like ‘what is it going to be’ and it was my goal to get the lead,” Krone said. “I said to myself ‘I am going to work so hard.’”
Her boyfriend, David Roy, got to experience her pre-audition work ethic first-hand.
“She sang her audition song so many times, she sang it in her sleep. She would also read her monologue while pacing in my room,” Roy said. “She always wants to try to get the best out of everything.”
Krone couldn’t resist chiming in, “I practiced everywhere I could go, on the toilet, in the Black Box, in David’s room, on the stage in the theatre… I literally just non-stop practiced. Not practicing was not an answer for me and I knew I could do it.”
It paid off, and really impressed her professor.
“I enjoyed telling people who came to see the show that she’s a first-year student, and they all were like WOW,” McEnerny said.
“Getting my script was the best part, knowing that my name was the first name called, like ‘Sarah Brown come grab your script.’ I had been waiting for this moment my whole life,” Krone said.
Krone has already made waves in her freshman year, but she’ll tell you it’s just the beginning.
“I’m excited that I already have one year under my belt, so instead of an adjustment year and a growth year, that now I know how things work, I can just jump right in next year and get my hands dirty,” she said.