First Day of the Springboard Program...

...AND MY 21ST BIRTHDAY

It's been magical. The people are wonderful, the town is wonderful, the food is wonderful, everything right now is wonderful (except for the communal dorm like bathroom)! I started the day in a room filled with 34 other theatre students, some still in school, quite a few were recent graduates. We mingled and ate free bagels and met a lot of people from big fancy schools. I think there were 5 of us where no one had even heard of our schools/locations. One girl even went into a mini-panic when I told her I was from Truman State because it was a school that she had never heard of located in the middle of nowhere. She said:
"Oh my god. You're going to be that girl that my professors always talk about. The one from the middle of nowhere that is working twice as hard as you that makes it on Broadway and gets famous."
Why, yes. Yes, I am.
But that's not what I said, or really what I think, but it's fun to respond in a sassy way, even if it's just in my head. But that has probably been my favorite reaction ever to the fact that I go to Truman.

So everyday at Springboard, we work and meet working professionals in the field. It's awesome. Today, we worked with Leigh Silverman. If you don't know who she is you should seriously look her up.
She's incredible.
And out of 35 students, I was the FIRST person that got to work with her ONE-ON-ONE.
It was so great and I managed to trip and look like a fool on my way to the floor because for some odd reason there is a studio that uses bleachers as seating, which are always difficult to navigate. Always. But who cares because I got to work with Leigh Silverman one-on-one!!!!!! Seriously, in 15 minutes she took one of my monologues to a whole new level. I'm obsessed.
After the audition workshop, Springboard treated all of us students to dinner at an Irish Pub and slowly the news made its way through the other students that it was my 21st birthday and a girl just turned and said to me "we're singing Happy Birthday to you now." and before I could open my mouth to protest 40 people were singing happy birthday at me in 3 part harmony. It was awkwardly wonderful. And then another guy in the program bought me a drink and one of the Production Managers for Springboard came up to me and asked me what kind of coffee I liked and if I liked cupcakes and I just said Yes to both. I hope I get a cupcake tomorrow!
So overall it has been a great 21st birthday. Completely nontraditional in the sense that I'm not going out to a bar and didn't take a shot at midnight, but honestly, I wouldn't trade this 21st birthday for anything.

Oh! Here's the shows (that I remember off the top of my head) I get to see over the next 2 weeks:
Peter and the Starcatcher
Once
Uncle Vanya
Sister Act
Newsies
...and I think there's something I'm forgetting, but I just can't remember right now..I'll keep ya'll updated!
(also, a lot of people say ya'll here. I really don't get it, but I'm probably going to get in the habit of using it.)

A Small Reflection

In five days I will be in New York City. In six days I will be 21. Both of these are Big Exciting Things and are getting more exciting the closer they get. I should be terrified at least a little, right? Nope. False. That is not something that is in my mind right now at all. Now, It might be during the 2 hour plane ride where I will be trying really hard to not have a mental breakdown about flying through the air thousands of miles above solid ground in a giant piece of metal, but that is not right now thank goodness. I am excited. But not bouncing off the walls excited. I have an acting teacher who enjoys using the "little blue stove flame" as an example of quiet intense energy that a person will experience before a complete outburst, and that's where I feel like I am right now. It's a great feeling.
Ultimately, I am wondering how much my 2 weeks in the Springboard program will effect what I want to do with my life. I am an incredibly indecisive person and anytime someone asks me what I want to do with my life I don't know what to tell them. In a perfect world, I would listen to little seven year old optimistic me and move to New York City right out of college and be an actor. Unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world, of which the realist in my head keeps reminding me, so I become indecisive because I can't decide what other part of theatre I like the best because I like all of it. Which really isn't a bad problem to have until people tell you that you have to make a decision and then I want to tell them to go away and shut up because I can do anything. Or at least attempt to do anything because failure is bound to happen somewhere if you want to do everything, but that should never ever ever stop anyone from trying. Ever.
So, pretty much, these upcoming weeks are probably, in some way, going to be life-changing, or mind-changing, or something along those lines. This summer is going to be a big one....Bring it on.

One Step Closer!

Today I received The Packet of Information from Springboard! It included yet another welcome letter, a map of NYC, info about dates, directions, clothing, resumes, monologues, housing, transportation, and a section saying they're still making an official schedule. So it's super exciting! But I'm still in the dark about what I'm going to be doing. But it's still SUPER EXCITING. One of my favorite parts of welcome letter #2 is when they tell me that they're going to show us "fulfilling jobs backstage...career possibilities that you may not have learned about it college."
This concept was so foreign to me because my first thought was: who doesn't learn about backstage stuff in college? We are required to do things outside of acting in order to graduate! And then I remembered not everyone goes to a liberal arts college. Right. Gold star for getting ahead of the curve!...kind of.
So anyways, now, I just want to start packing and making to do lists and anything that isn't waiting. I am easily the most impatient person I know and when I'm excited about something the only thing I want to do is obsess over it and plan outfits. Sadly, I decided to take a couple of online summer classes on top of all this craziness so I need to learn about the sociological and psychological effects of illicit drugs instead. I also need to take care of my puppy because she isn't feeling well. The poor thing keeps eating grass.


Also, Randy Lutterman's phone number is all over this packet, so I feel like she's a friend or something like that.

Just to reiterate: I'M SO EXCITED!