Curiosity, Creativity and Clowning — Jubilee’s Stephens Journey
If someone were to ask Jubilee Forbess what she’ll take with her when she graduates from Stephens College, she already knows her answer.
“Stay curious,” she says with a grin.
A junior in the English and Creative Writing program, Jubilee has spent her time at Stephens exploring creativity in every direction. “I’ve taken several workshops and literature classes,” she said. “My peers and I have explored what it means to craft a good piece of memoir, but we’ve also focused on a book of poetry written entirely about Pokémon. I even spent three weeks in the Tower kitchen practicing my cooking skills in order to better comprehend the connection between food and writing.”
That curiosity led her to one of her favorite classes so far—magical realism. “It’s a genre where the lines between everyday mundanity and everyday magic become very, very thin,” she said. “And staying curious is exactly what pulled me into the world of clowning.”
It all started during her freshman year, when one of her professors suggested she visit “First Fridays,” a downtown Columbia event that showcases local artists and vendors. “Since then, I’ve tried to make it a habit to go at least a few times each semester,” she said. “When I went to the October 2024 First Friday, I met someone who would really change my life: Grandma Glee, aka Kathleen Neason.”
Jubilee still laughs at the memory. “She was twisting balloons for a line of 20 or 30 children, so I really couldn’t interrupt her except to say, ‘I wish I could do that!’ She pointed at the red balloon dog that held her business cards and said quickly, ‘Take one. Text me.’”
Jubilee did. Two weeks later, she was learning how to twist her first balloon.
“Now, a year later, we’ve attended over a dozen festivals together,” she said. “We create balloons and smiles for Columbia and the surrounding areas. One of my favorite things about being a clown and twister is all the ways it’s affected other areas of my life. I’ve made so many friends and connections through this joyful activity that I may not have had otherwise.”
That joy has even taken her out of state. “This July, I traveled with Grandma Glee and our friend Silly Jilly to Kentucky, where we ‘stayed curious’ all week at an International Clown Convention,” she said.
Jubilee says that clowning has shaped not only her confidence but also her creative process. “I write a lot of different things in different genres, especially while in workshops and classes at Stephens,” she said. “But overall, I would say that clowning definitely does direct my writing. I love to infuse most of my writing with a sense of humor, even when it’s more serious. I think it’s important to balance serious topics with fun and joy.”
She’s also learned valuable lessons about performance and entertainment from her mentor. “I’ve been working with Grandma Glee for about a year,” she said. “We work at several festivals and parties. It’s super fun, but it also teaches me great skills about working in entertainment. I couldn’t ask for a better person to show me the ropes—we go on a lot of adventures together, and I love anything that makes people smile.”
Her experiences in the clowning world have even inspired her current coursework. “The connection between my pursuits and my classes at Stephens continues into my current junior-year class, ‘Passion Projects,’” she said. “In this class, my friends and I have chosen a mentor to teach us a new skill. The final product is an essay written about what we learned—and what we learned while learning.”
While Jubilee initially wanted to focus her project on balloon twisting, she decided to take her curiosity one step further. “Since I’ve already been doing that for a while, I switched gears and decided to delve into a new arena: children’s magic,” she said.
As Jubilee continues to write about her experiences with Grandma Glee and explore new creative outlets, she credits the Stephens faculty for encouraging her to take risks. “I’m grateful to all the professors—past and present—who encouraged me to stretch out of my comfort zone and keep my eyes open for new stories, always.”
English and Creative Writing Professor Caylin Capra-Thomas said that staying curious is an essential habit for writers and encourages her students to get out of the classroom and follow their passions, wherever they lead.
“Writing classes at Stephens are intellectual gyms where students train their curiosity like a muscle,” Capra-Thomas said. “You don’t get to know the world well enough to write it by skimming its surfaces; you must dig, always. Jubilee is unearthing stories to share with us.”
