My parents have been the greatest artistic influence in my life, in surprising way. I'm sure many aspiring actors have a family member or friend who has an experience in the performing arts or a passion that shined through that influenced them to purse their dreams of the arts. That isn't the case with me and the great influence my parents had on me. Outside of loving movies, neither them had experience or a passion for the performing arts. My Dad played college football and is in business, my Mom is a scientist. My experiences up to middle school were all sports; hockey, baseball and flag football, not the creative push to be a performer. However, why they were amazing and so influential, is they did, perhaps without a specific purpose, encompass our lives in the arts. From when I was a baby there was always music playing in our house. All kinds from classical, The Beatles, to modern day hits. When I began at a young age to show an affinity to certain children's shows, and when I say affinity I mean memorizing and acting out entire shows, they did nothing but encourage me. I still played sports, but there was never a push, there was always a willingness to to listen and partake in my fun acting and play. It was my parents who saw there was a community theatre auditioning for a production of Madagascar Jr. The Musical. It was one of my favorite movies and the time and they thought it might be fun. I was lucky enough to get the lead role of Alex the Lion, and I was hooked from there! I'm very proud to have been in over 25 productions since then. I'm the only member of my graduating class to have been cast in every production my High School auditioned for. My parents have been there every step of the way, many times leading the charge. They have never missed a single performance, have worked with my to find unique acting and audition based programs to push myself and have been instrumental in helping me through the gauntlet of auditioning for and selecting college theatre and acting programs. I am also proud to say I auctioned for 12 different college theatre/acting programs, and I was offered a spot in 11. The influence, dedication, support and love of my parents were so instrumental in getting me to this point. Seeing a successful actor I admire finally make it big, or meeting a professional who shared wisdom and strategies has been a part of my experience, and I could look to those experiences as influential. However, when I look at the question, who is someone artistic has been the most influential, I can say proudly, my artistic(In their own way) parents with pride. My favorite artistic experience so far has been my High School taking on the Broadway musical, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This musical took place last year, my junior year, and was met with hesitation by many. I was familiar with the story and really enjoyed Disney's animated version, especially the soundtrack. However, our directors announcement of the musical was met with pushback by many. It was a huge undertaking as we had a full cast, and a full choral accompaniment. It was the most work, and most intense process from an acting, singing and dancing perspective. By the end of our performances we were exhausted, but the sense of joy, fulfillment, and most importantly the emotional reaction we received from so many, made it my favorite experience to date!