Marco Perez (Photo by Leah Fikes)

Driving seven and a half hours to go to college can be a daunting task for any student, but freshman musical theater major Marco Perez from McAllen enjoyed ACU on his first tour over a year ago.

“The first time I came here I fell in love with Jacob’s Dream,” Perez said. “That’s my favorite thing about ACU.”

Perez said he felt comfortable at ACU almost immediately. He heard about ACU through a meet and greet at a church where some students talked to him about the university. Now Perez is starting college this year and living in Mabee Hall. He said he doesn’t like to decorate, so instead of decoration he collects knick knacks like coffee mugs, playbills, and other unique items.

“I love having stuff on my desk,” Perez said. “I love having stuff on shelves.”

Perez loves coffee and seeing Broadway shows. So far, he has seen The Book Of Mormon, Little Shop Of Horrors, Anastasia, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, The Lion King and Chicago. He said his favorite shows were Dear Evan Hansen and Little Shop Of Horrors. He also wants to eventually be able to play the leads of Seymour and Evan in both of them.

“Dear Evan Hansen, I think it’s a beautiful play that shows a lot like you have to be careful about what you say,” Perez said. “You have to be careful about who you are, and you just need to be yourself.”

He finds Broadway teaches life lessons. Little Shop Of Horrors is one of his favorites because it is about not being afraid to be who you are.

“Even when the masses get huge and you have a lot of people to impress, you’ll always go back to your roots and to who you want to be,” Perez said.

Perez loves music. His favorite song is “Morning” by Mark E. Bassy. He plays the guitar and has an album with a friend called Oceanography. Beyond the stage, Perez is most looking forward to the lifelong friendships that he will create at ACU.