By Olivia Fischer
CCC Journalism Program
Second-year theatre major Ari Scotto finds many creative outlets on campus, and when at home, continues to explore creatively on their TikTok account that has more than 200,000 followers.
The College Experience
Camden County College, which originally was supposed to be a stepping stone for Ari, became much more. Through the theatre and music programs, they have made extremely fulfilling and hopefully lifelong friendships.
Community college, which started out as “just an after high school thing,” soon became something that helped them career- and relationship-wise. With the commuting aspect of Camden County College, Ari is able to work as a tour guide for US Ghost Adventures.
Ari walks out of school after a long day.
Theatre and the Arts
Ari has been involved with theatre for 10 years. Back in fifth grade, their first show was “The Thirteen Colonies.” Their most current show is “Charlotte’s Web” at Camden County College. Ari will be portraying the roles of Mrs. Arable and the Gander.
A cast member, Maximilian Staff, notes that “working with Ari is great because they are not only smart but also confident. They are also a good leader, which makes acting with them easy.”
This semester, Ari has also been involved with the vocal ensemble, instrumental ensemble and jazz band. Ari notes that on an average day, “pretty much half of it is spent on campus.” The week leading up to “Charlotte’s Web,” Ari has been at the school until 10 p.m. rehearsing the show.
Ari is also proficient in other artistic skills, such as wig styling and painting. Ari finds joy in performing and filling up their entire day with it.
Ari and Nathan Stehly rehearse for “Charlotte’s Web.”
A Unique Style
Ari is an artistic person. Their creativity also shines through in their style. Their makeup is heavy and their boots are tall. Ari describes their style as “gothic with eclectic elements of punk and new wave.”
They take inspiration from many different alternative styles but goth would be the strongest description.
Growing up, Ari had always been interested in things deemed “dark” or “weird.” Even in middle school, Ari found enjoyment in the emo/scene styles. It was not until high school, though, that Ari began to take their style seriously, experimenting with makeup and clothing.
Ari paints in a full face of makeup.
A Large Social Media Following
The average TikTok following a person has is around 1,000 to 5,000 followers. Ari has 200,000.
Despite this stark difference from the average, they do not fully understand why they gained such a following. Ari credits it to “the niche content I post that just so happens to find people with similar interests.” These interests include their gothic makeup, Star Trek and music.
Other than the fun, meaningless content they post, there are a few “get ready with me videos” with a hidden message. Tagged with watermelon emojis, Ari is actually speaking out about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ari posts about suffering families and links different websites on their page for advocacy and donation purposes.
Ari checks their socials.
After CCC
After the spring semester completes, Ari will receive their associate’s degree in theatre and liberal Arts. They will be continuing their acting and theatre studies at Playhouse West in Philadelphia.
Ari appreciates the support from their family to pursue the arts.
Ari styles a wig for their show.