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Creative SolutionsHow one grad turned personal difficulties into creative gold
By Eric Doyle '08
Actress. Teacher. Playwright. Editor. Agent. Lacy Lynch has done more
in three years than many do in thirty. Since her 2006 graduation from
Baylor, she has earned an MA, taught college and high school courses,
had a play she wrote performed in New York and Dallas, worked as a
researcher and editor on a New York Times bestseller, and pitched book ideas for the world's number one nonfiction literary agency.
Lynch has always crammed her schedule as full as it could possibly be. As a Baylor freshman, she found herself
 engaged
not only in the rigorous stage production schedule of a theater major,
but also involved in a sorority and the Baylor Honors Program.
Charismatic, energetic, and fiercely intelligent, Lynch refused to let
her major limit her activities.
Despite her best efforts, though, the stress of keeping up with so many
demanding programs soon triggered a psychological mood disorder. When
Lynch registered with Baylor's Office of Access and Learning
Accommodation, she was advised to drop out of Baylor.
"They told me to seriously think about going to a community college and
that I definitely wouldn't be able to do the Honors Program--that I
needed to lower my stress," she said.
But Lynch was not prepared to give up so easily, and with the support
of her family and a few Baylor professors she rose to meet the
challenge. "This is why I loved Baylor: there were these key people who
did not label me; they let me learn at my own pace; they let me do my
own thing," she said. Not only did Lynch not
drop out of Baylor, but she remained involved in all of her activities.
She learned to manage her mood disorder and in 2006 was the first
theater major to graduate from the Baylor Honors Program.
When it came time to write her honors thesis, Lynch opted for a
creative approach. Because her schedule was so tightly packed, "I had
to find a way to consolidate the things that I was passionate about--I
love literature, I love psychology, and I love theater." Her solution
was to write a play, Reason for Referral, focusing on mental disorders as labels and the stigma that comes along with them.
"Those labels get wrapped up in your identity, and it becomes who you are," she said, "and so Reason for Referral
is about shedding all of those things and figuring out who you are as
an individual, and that you're not the sum total of your labels."
After earning an MA in theater from Texas A&M-Commerce, Lynch's
next step was surprising: an internship with renowned literary agency
Dupree/Miller & Associates. When she discovered that the agency's
next big project would be a research-intensive psychology book with Dr.
Phil, she hoped that her experience with mental health issues could
benefit the effort.
"They said that part of Dr. Phil's vision for this book was to prepare
people to deal with tough issues, such as mental health, and I'd just
done six years of research, published an academic article, and written
a play, all about mental health," Lynch said. So she signed on as a
researcher and editorial assistant.
The project put all of Lynch's seemingly disparate skill sets to use.
"A lot of people thought it was really strange at the time, but every
single piece fit together perfectly to be where I am now," she said.
"It was such a God thing."
The book Lynch worked on, Real Life: Preparing for the Seven Most Challenging Days of Your Life, is not stereotypical self-help fare. Real Life
is straightforward, helpful, and firmly grounded in psychological
research. At least some of that grounding is a result of Lynch's work.
Since the book's publication last September, Lynch's job has shifted to
that of a literary agent, pitching her agency's books to publishers.
"My agency has been really successful in getting Christian authors out
into the secular marketplace. . . . That's something I'm personally
very passionate about," she said.
Through it all, Lynch continues to spend her nights acting
professionally in Dallas-area theater productions. "Theater is always
my passion. I really believe in the power of storytelling." And
storytelling has always been her goal.
"I eventually want to be a screenwriter or a playwright," she said,
"but I feel like right now I've got to live, and then I write. Reason for Referral was sort of my opus of that time in my life, and now I'm living and learning and growing again."
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