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.)

Day 1 of NYC

There is no way to have a normal start to a trip to New York City. I don't really know why I thought it would be normal, but that was a mistake. It started with getting to the airport at 6am, which isn't too bad, just early. Then I went through security with no problems except the TSA security lady decided to take away one of my bins that my stuff was in before I was done with it and proceeded to drop my phone, shoes, and sunglasses on the floor of the airport and instead of apologizing she said: Oh, well, I can't see things when they're all bundled up. BULL SHIT. Next time, you should just try looking at the bins before you snatch them away. Other than that everything else at the airport went smoothly. The only thing I can even think to complain about is the guy sitting in front of me decided it was completely necessary that he lean his chair back the entire flight. It's just a little pet peeve of mine when I'm on a short flight.
Then, I GOT TO NEW YORK CITY. It is big and shiny and dirty and loud and I love it. So, I got to the YMCA and was all ready to check in and get settled and, lo and behold, check isn't until 2:30. At that point it was only 1:15. And so I start to just cry because all the itty bitty things that bugged me finally added up, and I was tired, and I was hungry, and basically there was really no good reason to why I decided I had to cry at that very moment. It was stupid. The guy just told me I could lock up my stuff in the security room so I could go walk around the city and kill some time. So I did. And the security guard guy who locked up my stuff was really sweet and told me about a little cafe around the corner where I could get a coffee and clear my head and "be happy, don't be sad." He was adorable. That's when I realized I was hungry and hadn't eaten since 5am, so I probably needed a sandwich. I got my sandwich and went for a stroll through Central Park and saw a man dressed all in pink wearing a Statue of Liberty crown and riding a hot pink girls bike with streamers. It was perfect.
That's really all I have to say for today so far. Except the rooms are very prison like and the bathrooms are gross, but it's a communal restroom so it's what's expected.
Also, I think the guy at the table next to mine is also part of the Springboard Program. I keep looking over there, but I don't know how to approach him. I'm such a creep. I really should get an award for how much of a creeper I can be.

On your marks! Get set!

Go! In twelve and a half hours I will be boarding a plane to New York City! I don't even know what to do with myself right now. I finally finished packing and it only took about three days total, which, for me is pretty good. Probably the main reason why it took me three days is because I kept getting distracted by the pretty shiny internet and random trips to Target. I also had to stop by QuikTrip and while I was there buying soda for my mother a grizzly man bear walked in and had the following conversation with Mr. QuikTrip man:
....
Grizzly man bear: You guys got any liquor?

Mr. QuikTrip man: Why, yes. It is all in the case right over there.

Grizzly man bear: You got any in plastic?

Mr. QuikTrip man: We do have some in plastic bottles.

Grizzly man bear: I need vodka.
....
This was the first time I have been in a QuikTrip where I have ever seen someone buy liquor. Not beer, but liquor. The whole time this was happening Mr. QuikTrip man was trying to ring up my 12 pack of diet coke and looked incredibly confused by the fact that this Grizzly man bear desperately needed vodka in a plastic bottle. Probably because this Grizzly man bear looked like he could have ripped his arm off if he didn't get what he wanted.

Also! Look at what I found on pretty shiny internet:

Now, this is just a parody. I really hope Hollywood doesn't see this and get any ideas.  Fingers crossed!

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.

Countdown.

In exactly 2 weeks from right now I will be in New York City. 

....

....
That is all.

This has nothing to do with theatre

BUT IT'S STILL IMPORTANT. This Kansas governor signed a bill that can allow pharmacists and doctors the RIGHT TO DENY women birth control. This is just wrong! It is unsafe and not healthy and giving power to the wrong people. Seriously, a pharmacist can refuse to fill a woman's prescription for birth control if it goes against their religion! Not the woman's religion, the pharmacists religion! I personally view this bill as an attack on women, some probably don't, but I do. It pisses me off when it is just assumed that birth control is only used to have sex. Some of us use it for medical reasons. In fact, birth control is always used for medical reasons because if you get preggo that involves a lot of medicine and a lot of hospital time. Anyways, here's the article if you want to read it yourself: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/05/15/kansas/

I want to tell all of the men in government who have panels about birth control without any women present, or are making laws to limit women's choices, or deny them access to medicine they are paying for, or making false assumptions just to scare people: STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO WITH MY VAGINA.

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!