It's a double life for this double major -- from theater to medicine

Hector Meza is a theater and biology major in the College of Arts and Sciences from Mexico City. Nicola Kountoupes/ University Photography

By Briana Collins '03

Hector Meza has built a resumé that embraces both the theater and the life sciences. But almost by accident.

As the nephew of Florinda Meza, a famous Mexican actress, Meza had always been interested in the arts, particularly since attending Ridley College, a Canadian private high school. And at Cornell, he has acted in eight productions.

But it wasn't until his demanding ensemble role in Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the university's Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts last November that he decided to move away from acting. "It went very well, and I loved it," said Meza. "But I realized I didn't want to act, because it's very draining."

Instead, directing caught his eye, and in his final semester he enrolled in two directing courses, one of which, Theater 498: Fundamentals of Directing II, was limited to only four students. During the course, Meza directed the Student Lab Theatre Co., a group of 20 novice actors. With his three classmates, Meza recently directed the actors in Power Lunch, a play by "American Beauty" screenwriter Alan Ball. Meza's role included everything from coordinating set design to lighting, from picking costumes to advertising.

Meza also serves as president of New Living Voices, a student organization that promotes diversity in theater, and recently he finished writing his thesis on political and avant-garde theater.

Now he is heading for New York City. But not for a professional career in the theater. This semester he realized he had enrolled in enough biology courses to do a double major in both theater and biology. So now he plans to take a summer lab position and then apply to medical school.

In fact Meza has come full circle because he originally planned on being a pre-med student when he arrived at Cornell. "I had tried the biology major," said Meza, "and I decided it didn't work for me." But it was the study of genetics that turned him away from biology, Meza realized. "I still liked science classes, and I took them for fun," he said. In the process he developed a strong interest in biochemistry and biomedical sciences.

"Maybe I could put myself through med school by directing plays," said Meza with a laugh. But then, he has a good role model: His "inspiration," he said, was his Theater 498 professor, David Feldshuh, artistic director of the Schwartz Center, who also happens to be a medical doctor.