Alumni Profile: Noah Branch

Noah Branch had his first Project Success experience as a freshman at Patrick Henry High School in 2013 during an in-class workshop delivered by his facilitator, Kurt, and later on with Micah during his junior and senior year.

The workshops and his Project Success facilitators were the most impactful part of Project Success for him.

“Having people who were somewhat detached from the educator role [like our teachers] but with experience and in the position to give advice to students helped us build trust,” he says. “It was easy to connect with Kurt and Micah.”

For Noah, the workshops gave him the space and support to more deeply connect his work in school to his future plans.

“They came into the classroom and talked about important things, but made it accessible and fun. It was nice to have that space to think about our futures apart from what we did every day in high school.”

For instance, Noah recalls a workshop senior year about finances, delivered by Micah.

“Micah made it real and tangible,” he said. “He helped us see how we could apply it to our lives then. Now, I realize it was an insight into making those decisions for myself today, as a 20-year-old college student.”

Additionally, the workshops helped Noah realize his passion for theater. A performer since grade school, Noah’s earliest memory of acting was landing a role as a mime in a summer program in 1st grade. A successful audition in grade 5 secured him a role at the SteppingStone Theater’s production of My Grandmother’s Tsotchkes: Tales of a Gambling Grandma. It was during this rehearsal process that Noah experienced and understood the inner workings of putting on a play, both on and off the stage, and he loved it.

Noah continued to perform throughout middle school at The FAIR School with roles such as Soda Pop from The Outsiders and Zero in Holes – his favorite role. In high school at Patrick Henry, Noah took a break from acting. It wasn’t until his senior year that he reconnected with acting when he auditioned for and got the role of Aladdin.

In the fall of 2017, he began his undergrad at the University of Minnesota, declaring a chemistry major at first. But a passion for theater remained deeply rooted in Noah. He continued with chemistry classes until, after talks with his
advisor, he reached a point where he realized that his passions might lie elsewhere.

“There’s going to be a point where you find yourself doing what you don’t want to do. When you get there, stop doing it,” Noah recalled a saying he once heard. “That’s what I’d like to share with new high school graduates.”

Now in his third year at the University, Noah has switched from a chemistry major to a theater major. “I want to make my impact in the theater industry,” says Noah. “I want to be an actor and hope to move out of Minnesota, get into an MFA program and ultimately come back to Minnesota to work for the Guthrie or Penumbra Theater. That’s the goal.”

Long-term, Noah is looking to create bigger impact in his community by founding a nonprofit children’s theater serving North Minneapolis.

This feature was originally written by Development Manager Sai Chang and published in the June 2019 issue of the Project Success Alumni Newsletter.