When I was 6 years old, my parents told me to pick a hobby that I could stick with. I tried gymnastics, tae kwon do, basketball, and ballet, but nothing worked for me. When I was 7 years old, my mom took me to see a production of the "The Witch Of Blackbird Pond" at the Drama Studio in Springfield. After that, I was hooked. I told my mom, "I want to be like one of the people on stage.” So, my parents being the awesomely supportive people they are, signed me up for my "intro to acting class" at the age of 8. I have a learning disability that directly impacts my ability to look others in the eyes and communicate. And when my mom told my educational psychologist about her signing me up for acting classes, my mom was told that she was just setting me up to fail. But, my parents repelled that response and trusted their gut and what I wanted. So, when I told my parents at the age of 9 that I wanted to go on broadway and be an actress, they took me to my first broadway show; "Thoroughly Modern Millie.” And from that point forward, I was hooked. My parents and my siblings endured all of my cabaret and play performances with bouquets of roses at every show and there was never a moment where my family didn't show up. My dear babcia (grandmother) showed up every time I was on stage, and I look through the family photo albums and I get a tear in my eye over how abundantly supportive they always were.
While I never was the star in any production, my parents, siblings and grandparents always supported my dream because, because as my dad says, "theater is what made me come out of my shell.” I can recall back to when I was eight years old and my drama teacher gave us an assignment to write about a toy that meant a lot to us-so I naturally wrote about my American Girl Doll, Felicity. It was that experience that created my insatiable hunger to pursue acting. I spent many years after that attempting to pursue my theatrical dreams, but as I got older, I started to face the grim reality that broadway and hollywood only accepts an extremely small portion of actors. But, I held onto that false idea for a while. When I was 15, I met Tom Hanks at a broadway show, and while this was the most amazing experience; I had a weird gut feeling that if I didn't tell him about the play that I was in at the time, then I wouldn't have a chance to make it big in the acting world. I told Tom Hanks about the production I was in at the time and while he was beyond kind and gracious and just an all around kind person, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that it was perhaps time to find an additional passion. It was then that I joined my high schools Model United Nations and started volunteering at my Babcias nursing home. While i learned to adjust my dreams, theater and acting have never, ever left my heart. Since then, I have been blessed with the opportunity to meet James Franco, Jake Gyllenhaal, Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch. And I cry and smile whenever I see a powerful movie or play because it reminds me of a deep rooted passion and love that has been with me for as long as I can remember.
