1993 alum Ben Rameaka is now an actor and voiceover artist based in New York City.  He also teaches improv comedy.  Click on his name to read his blog and watch funny videos!

I went to GIA in the summer of ‘93. I took acting and stone carving. It was after my freshman year at CVU (Champlain Valley Union in Hinesburg). GIA had been recommended to me by a close upperclassman friend. As soon as I arrived I felt an overwhelming sense of community. Everyone was so open and so available. It was an incredibly formative few weeks for me. I just remember thinking how impressed I was by everyone and all of their abilities and how welcomed we all felt. How we all felt part of something larger than our small artistic endeavors at our own schools. There was something resonant and harmonious about the feeling. Like failure was impossible and inspiration was always just the next conversation away.

Since then I have received my MFA from the Actor’s Studio at The New School in New York City, and I perform and teach improv comedy at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade theatre. I have also appeared on commercials and done voiceovers for radio and television.

Performance is my life and I am not sure if I would have persevered through all of the difficulties associated with its pursuit if I hadn’t been buoyed by such a remarkable community at such a young age.

-Ben Rameaka-
Brooklyn, New York