The COVID-19 Pandemic hasn't affected me as much as my peers, however, I still tried to make the most of this terrible year. Two of my theater productions were halted after everyone went on lockdown, but we didn't want to stop performing. We had worked very hard on our shows and we still wanted to stay in touch over the break. My castmates and I got on a Zoom meeting every week and still rehearsed our show. Whether we all just sat and talked about what we were going through, or performing the show with goofy accents, we still got on the Zoom every week. While it wasn't the same thing as performing, it really helped me through this tough time. After two months into the lockdown, my friends and I even put on the show Chatroom, which I directed and starred in. This allowed us the chance to be excited about something again. While it was very hard to perform over Zoom, it was a fun challenge to get us all up and moving. After a month of rehearsing, we recorded a performance that was sent to parents and friends. We had over 800 people come in and watch it, and the responses were all good. Also, the performance online, allowed many of my distant relatives and friends to pop in and watch us perform. While I couldn't stop the pandemic from spreading, I tried to make it a little more enjoyable, even if only for a second.

Ever since I was little I would watch a theater production or movie and wish to be a part of the amazing artistry. I started theater in fifth grade in a fun production of Willy Wonka Jr. as an Oompa Loompa and while I was super nervous to get on stage and perform in front of a live audience, I found myself enjoying every second of it. After that moment, my mom enrolled me in theater where I started to gain more confidence in my acting skills and I also became part of a community that was bigger than myself. In addition to acting I later decided to compete in Destination Imagination (DI) which is a “global education nonprofit dedicated to inspiring the next generation of innovators, leaders, and creative problem solvers”. My team decided to sign up for the Fine Arts challenge where we had to write, design, and perform a small script that we displayed for a panel of judges. After competing in local and state tournaments we ended up advancing to Global Finals where we competed against teams from all over the world. I can still remember sitting in the stands waiting as they announced the top ten. All of us started screaming and crying as they announced our team had won first place. This was my defining moment, when I realized how much I loved performing, and how I wanted to study acting and find a way to make it my future. Since then, I have jumped from opportunity to opportunity to help me grow as a professional actor. When I was younger, I was only given comedic roles; however, in high school I pushed myself to try new things and I took on the dramatic role of Dennis Shepard in The Laramie Project. The show was a true story of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was beaten and killed for his sexuality and I played the part of his father. During the production I started accepting my own sexuality and eventually found the courage to come out to myself, my friends, and my family that I am gay. Everyone has their own coming out story and theater not only helped and accepted me, but it also surrounded me with a community of hard working and amazing individuals. Being a part of this, along with my passion for theater, has made me want to make a career out of acting and theatrics. It is who I am on so many different levels. My goal is to either perform on a Broadway stage, star in movies, or be on television. I am putting in so much time and effort to better myself as an actor and a person, and I need a college that can help me make those next steps.

Throughout my high school career I have been involved in theater which has given me a unique opportunity to be a part of a great community. It was through acting that I found my myself when I had to play the dramatic role of Dennis Shepard in The Laramie Project. The show was a true story of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was beaten and killed for his sexuality and I played the part of his father. Throughout the production process, and studying my characters role, I started to realize and accept my own sexuality and eventually found the courage to come out to myself, my friends, and my family. Everyone has their own coming out story and for a 16-year-old this was a scary experience. While my journey of coming out took almost a year, and there are still many people who do not know, the overall response has been positive for which a I am truly grateful. Even though the world has grown to be more accepting over the years, and I was fortunate to receive the love and support of my family and friends, there was always that little voice in the back of my head that thought of every negative possibility. It was not until my first date with a guy that I found my first battle of adversity. We decided to go walk around our city's outdoor outlet mall. I was a little nervous when he reached to grab my hand, but I didn't pull away. I wanted to be like every other kid my age. However, the second he grabbed my hand was when the looks started, then the glares, and then gasps, and even a scream. I quickly realized the world is not as accepting as I had once thought. I then refused to hold his hand for our next couple of dates. I wanted to have a good time with him, and not fear what other people were going to do, but I couldn’t. It took a while, but I eventually held his hand again in public. I finally realized that I had to stop caring about what others felt and the important thing was to just be happy. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of kids out there who cannot make this discovery and need help understanding why they feel different than others. They need a kinder world so they can do something as simple as holding their boyfriend’s hand. Since then I have tried to stand up for people in the LGBT community or other minorities. While we have made many improvements over the last couple of years, there still a lot of people who don't accept or care about the community. I will continue to fight for and support minorities, and I even encourage others. In college and every stage of my life after, I will help out the kids who don't have accepting homes, or have to battle prejudice every day, because everyone deserves the same love and care as the rest of the population.

Art allows me to tell the stories of others. As an actor, I get the privilege of helping a writer's story come to life. Art gives us the platform to talk about subjects that people are too scared to address in real life. Art puts a spotlight on the negative aspects on our world, and beautifully transforms it into social change. What drives me as an actor, is to be a part of that change. Last year, I got the privilege to perform The Laramie Project. The show was a true story of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was beaten and killed for his sexuality. When this awful crime was happening, a theater group went out to Laramie and interviewed the people about this event. As an actor, it was an amazing opportunity to speak the actually words someone else has said and share their story to new audiences. I was cast as the role of Dennis Shepard, Matthew's father. At the end of Act 3, he delivers a speech about his decision to let his killer receive the death penalty or not. Getting caught up on the same heart-breaking speech as Dennis was a very real moment for me. There were times where I would just shut down due to the sad nature of the topic. However, I wanted everyone to know what Dennis said, and the horrible choice he had to make. During the production, I was dealing with my own sexuality, and hearing about what happened to the Shepard family really opened my eyes. It helped me realize that this isn't a very welcoming world, and that I wanted to change that. I was getting the opportunity to perform this and show the damages of what hate can do to an entire town. The beautiful part of the script is that there is no bias. It's the real opinion of town members in Laramie. What you take away from it is all up to you. Since then I have wanted to be a part of this new wave of theater that addresses the problems faced with society today. We have the platform and the microphones to voice our opinion, so why not. Since The Laramie Project, I have joined Teen Voices, a local theater created to give teenagers the opportunity to find their own creative voice. Since then we have put on many productions addressing mental illness in young students, animal cruelty and the prejudice of African Americans in our country. Teen Voices has allowed me the chance to speak up and share the stories of others. Art can help change the world to become more accepting and supportive. I want to become an actor so that I can be a part of that art.