I want to leave the world better than I found it. Art comes down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script. It is important to me to change people. The Wolves, a play about a teenage girl's soccer team, taught me the most about its impact. I played #00, an especially anxious, high achieving girl who was trying to find a better way to live her life. We were scarily similar; two girls, both 17 years old, who were high achieving students, and had something they were subjectively good at. We both suffered performance anxiety. Each night, #00 has what is known as a timeout. She is fully alone having an anxiety and rage fueled breakdown about the way her life has been up until this moment. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. It fundamentally changed me and the way I approached the world. It helped get rid of the nagging performance anxiety and made me realize how much the arts have affected me in a positive way. I wasn't the only one being moved by this work. I connected to audience members who played soccer, experienced panic attacks, who lost children, who lost a friend, and more. Plays like The Wolves are important to empowering young people, artists, parents, athletes, and more. Theater has the power to reach people like nothing else. Through all my work to tell the most truthful story, I could connect with the audience, share the stories I deeply care about sharing, and in some way leave my community in a different place than when I entered it. The culmination of my life in theater and my experience in The Wolves has led to a simple statement: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me. By being truthful to my character, truthful to myself, and involved in my community, I hope to make a difference in the world and continue to exemplify the impact theater can have on society.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. At least that was the goal I set for myself the summer before my junior year acting season. I was on a theater retreat to American Players Theater and we spent time listing our values as performers and as humans. I synthesized a lot of my past work and progress; what did I love to see, what did I hate. A lot of it came down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script? It is important to me to change people, and that's how I want to approach my college education. For a long time, I was hesitant on what I wanted to go to college for. My dream since middle school was to be an actress. But my early high school years presented many challenges I needed to overcome, resulting in me doubting my aspirations to get a college education in acting. That was until I was in The Wolves, however. I played #00, an especially anxious, high achieving girl who was trying to find a better way to live her life. We were scarily similar; two girls, both 17 years old, who were high achieving students, and had something they were subjectively good at. Her, the saxophone and soccer, me, swimming and theater. We both suffered performance anxiety. Each night, #00 has what is known as a timeout. She is fully alone having an anxiety and rage fueled breakdown about the way her life has been up until that moment. I went on this journey with her for a month as she broke down and changed her beliefs. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. It fundamentally changed me and the way I approached the world. The culmination of my experience in The Wolves led me to a simple statement: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me. To achieve this goal and to see the changes I want to make, a conservatory acting program will be just the thing I need to move forward. Having higher level training, getting to learn the techniques that make the best storytellers, and being around an ensemble of like minded actors is the way to move forward. I want to give stories back to my community and work to touch the lives of people by reflecting their actions, words, and relationships back onto them. By having the money to pursue my own education, and on top of that being able to support the organizations that are helping give other people similar opportunities would be the first step into launching myself into a changemaker in the professional world. To be able to make a difference, I need to undergo many changes in myself and see changes in other people. Conservatory education creates an incubator of growth which allows vast changes to the actors entering each program. I hope to be one to undergo these changes so I can help others.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. At least that was the goal I set for myself the summer before my junior year. I synthesized a lot of my past work and progress, what did I love to see, what did I hate. A lot of it came down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script. It is important to me to change people, so that became the focus of my junior year. Its greatest culmination occurred during The Wolves, a play about a teenage girl's soccer team, which is the most important theater experience I’ve ever had. I played #00, an especially anxious, high achieving girl who was trying to find a better way to live her life. Each night, #00 has what is known as a timeout. She is fully alone having an anxiety and rage fueled breakdown about the way her life has been up until this moment. I went on this journey with her for a month as she broke down and changed her beliefs. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. It fundamentally changed me and the way I approached the world. It helped get rid of the nagging performance anxiety and made me realize how much the arts have affected me in a positive way. I wasn't the only one being moved by this work. I connected to audience members who played soccer, experienced panic attacks, were teenage girls, who lost children, who lost a friend, and much more. Plays like The Wolves are incredibly important to empowering young people, artists, parents, athletes, and more. Theater has the power to reach people like nothing else can. It showed me how to be an advocate, and it is through that learning that I am moved to make these opportunities and experiences available for everyone by working with organizations like the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Teen Council to provide free and reduced price tickets, and being an advocate for public arts funding. My high school deeply lacked creativity and an effective arts training program. Through my time in high school the music programs shrunk to half their size and funding for any theatrical production was cut in half. Their lack of innovation in learning how to function again drew me away from my high school. So what I turned to was the Young Company, a high school training program at First Stage in Milwaukee. Their innovation and offering a conservatory style high school acting program in a part of the midwest where it doesn’t usually exist helped to transform my life and many others in the midwest. Even through new struggles and changing leadership, the program was never shaken and they found ways to innovate that made them even better. Overall, the culmination of my life in theater, my education and my experience in The Wolves has led to a simple statement: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me. By being truthful to my character, truthful to myself, and involved in my community, I hope to make a difference in the world and continue to exemplify the impact theater can have on society.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. At least that was the goal I set for myself the summer before my junior year. I was on a theater retreat to American Players Theater and we spent time listing our values as performers and as humans. I synthesized a lot of my past work and progress, what did I love to see, what did I hate. A lot of it came down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script. It is important to me to change people, so that became the focus of my junior year. Its greatest culmination occurred during The Wolves, a play about a teenage girl's soccer team. I played #00, an especially anxious, high achieving girl who was trying to find a better way to live her life. We were scarily similar; two girls, both 17 years old, who were high achieving students, and had something they were subjectively good at. Her, the saxophone and soccer, me, swimming and theater. We both suffered performance anxiety. Each night, #00 has what is known as a timeout. She is fully alone having an anxiety and rage fueled breakdown about the way her life has been up until this moment. I went on this journey with her for a month as she broke down and changed her beliefs. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. It fundamentally changed me and the way I approached the world. It helped get rid of the nagging performance anxiety and made me realize how much the arts have affected me in a positive way. I wasn't the only one being moved by this work. I connected to audience members who played soccer, experienced panic attacks, were teenage girls, who lost children, who lost a friend, and much more. Plays like The Wolves are incredibly important to empowering young people, artists, parents, athletes, and more. Theater has the power to reach people like nothing else can. Through all my work to tell the most truthful story, I could connect with the audience, share the stories I deeply care about sharing, and in some way leave my community in a different place than when I entered it. The culmination of my life in theater and my experience in The Wolves has led to a simple statement: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me. By being truthful to my character, truthful to myself, and involved in my community, I hope to make a difference in the world and continue to exemplify the impact theater can have on society.

Flynn Ryder. The man of everyones dreams. One of the greatest lovers of all time, climbing the long golden hair of the one person he seemingly cannot have or get to. But he didn’t give up. He taught me a lot, however, my focus fell mostly on Rapunzel, the trapped, wronged, but optimistic and goal oriented princes whose life had so much more in store for her. Tangled, the childhood cult classic, has been extremely influential on my life, and has begun to turn into a metaphor for the way I’ve lived. I grew up watching Tangled ALL. OF. THE. TIME. Every time it was on TV I was watching it. I was a young blonde girl with long hair who wanted to BE Rapunzel. Besides the fact that she was stuck in a tower. But as I aged, I realized how much I was stuck in a tower of my own. And when I finally found my freedom, it changed my life. Repunzle finds herself growing up locked in a tower, and as she reaches her 18th birthday, she longs to get out and see the lanterns. Although I am not locked in a tower, I spent most of my life mostly playing sports, longing for something different, but not having it in reach and unable to get it. Then, someone creeps into your life, unexpected and not in a conventional way, and changes everything. For Rapunzel Flynn Ryder shows up and rocks her world, taking her from the tower and showing her everything she has missed out on while reassuring her at every step. For me, I was introduced to a TV show by my friends, Riverdale. In it was the musical Heathers. Much like Repunzle, I didn’t know something so simple could alter the course of my life, but it did. And much like Repunzle, it scared me at first, but I never wanted to go back. I dove head first into the theater. This didn’t come without its upsets and challenges, which Repunzle also faced. But what I learned, from Repunzle and Tangled, is that sometimes you need to stand up for your best interests, even if it burns a bridge, because it can be a necessary step to bettering yourself. While for Repunzle it was a life or death situation, I was still moved by her bravery, her dedication, and her true want for all of the things she had gotten a taste from that inspired me to fight for my dreams. Outside of the story, Tangled also introduced me to musical theater. The music, the voice acting, and later on the many series and live action speculations that would come from it all showed me the acting industry in a new and creative light. It showed me the many diverse job opportunities available and ultimately it made me fall in love with music as a form of storytelling and expression in its most literal sense. Overall, Tangled taught me as a little girl how to fight for myself and my dreams. It introduced me to a world change and how to try and navigate it. It will forever be a movie I love and is a testimony to the power of film and artistic expression for young people.

I didn’t get much of an arts education until I entered high school. I had my regular choir class and summer school short play, but I had never had any formal acting training. But during the pandemic, I discovered my interest and passion for theater. I quickly dove head first into acting, joining an online program and looking for any opportunities and programs that I could find. What that led me to was First Stage Theater Academy in Milwaukee. I auditioned for the Young Company, their conservatory style acting program, and got in. It changed my life. And that change was thanks to my three mentors. The Young Company has three directors, all of which have taken on different roles in influencing my journey. They are actors who teach high school students at a high school program, all of which cannot be talked about on their own without reference of another due to their interconnectedness with my success. The head of the Young Company, Matt Daniels, is an incredibly accomplished and generous teacher who has shared his endless knowledge with us all. He has learned a lot about movement, acting techniques in general, and trained at Julliard. He is the kind of person who is always available if you have an acting question, always has something new and helpful to teach us, and is incredibly supportive when coaching us. He has taught me not only how to be a better actress, but how to be more generous on stage and in real life. Another of our head teachers, Marcella Kearns, has provided unwavering support both as a teacher and as a fellow actress in the MIlwaukee community. She has been a lifesaver as I apply to college for acting. Every time she directs me in a show or we are in a play together, I am re-inspired to keep acting. Every time I am lost in my journey or set off track, I can count on her shows to bring me back and challenge me to do things I didn’t know I was before capable of. She has shown me the importance of taking risks and how if someone really cares, they will not let you crash and burn. Finally, the last of our three teachers, Elyse Edelman, has given me opportunities that have changed the course of my life. She took a chance on me and cast me in my first play, and then gave me my first professional job in acting. My first play, The Laramie Project, turned me onto activism through theater, and The Wolves, my first professional play, opened me up to a world of new opportunities. Overall all these three mentors have completely changed my life and have shown me how to be a better person, actress, advocate, and community member. I hope to continue to push myself to achieve my goals to continue what I was inspired to do.

As an actress, who almost daily is exposed to different interpretations and representations of mental illness, and as a person who continues to strive to maintain my mental wellness, mental health is incredibly important to me. My most recent exposure to these mental health struggles as an actress was when I was in The Wolves by Sarah Delapp. I played #00, a high achieving student and athlete who struggled with intense performance anxiety to the point where it made her physically sick before every soccer game she played. Not only was #00 written in this way, but so was another character, #2, who struggled with an eating disorder. Myself and other teenagers represented these young girls each night, showing to an audience of people of all ages the struggles that many teenage girls go through. It was an honor to bring awareness to these topics each night. Storytelling brings awareness, especially when a play about teenage struggles is being portrayed by teenagers. Portraying these struggles, however, didn't come without difficulty. I am incredibly similar to #00. When I played her I was also 17, struggling with performance anxiety, and keeping up with school work as a high achieving student. My tech week was also my finals week. I was overwhelmed, holding down a professional job schedule while swimming, taking finals, and leading clubs. On top of all that, the show was an emotionally difficult one. 7 shows a week, I simulated a panic attack breakdown on stage in a moment of physical and emotional breakdown. The way I managed the onstage mental strain along with my actual mental strain was by being incredibly mindful of my schedule and emotions. Each night after my breakdown, I regained my own sanity by laying on the floor and slowing down my artificially sped up breathing. Then, during bows, they played the song "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger" which was a quick and intense switch up that always made us laugh, allowing for a quick release from the emotionally heavy play. For myself, I kept a schedule to remove any unnecessary stress and keep up on my finals. Despite the added time commitment, playing a sport was incredibly beneficial to my mental wellness. It kept my body in shape and allowed me to release any unwanted emotions through exercise. While all of this sounds like I had it in check, sometimes I struggled. That's when I could lean on the amazing community that I had surrounded myself with. For many of us, The Wolves was our first professional job. It led to a lot of performance anxiety, so we leaned onto our mentor who also happened to play the soccer mom. She gave us a list of tips, both funny and very serious, that brought us comfort, during the highly vulnerable moments of the production. Overall, awareness, exposure, and access to coping strategies is essential for positive mental health and is something that I will continue to embrace throughout my acting journey.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. The way I have done that is through being a student athlete and actress who works to support every community I am a part of to the best of my ability. My main communities consist of three groups, the Milwaukee artistic community, the swim team at my school, and finally the Wisconsin artistic community. Through all my work as an actress I strive to connect with the audience, share the stories I deeply care about sharing, and in some way leave the world in a different state than I came into it. I want to make the world one that is people focused, cares about what people have to say, and emphasizes the rights and knowledge of each person's past, present, and future. Through all of my work, I have seen first hand what theater and the arts can do to a person. The training program I am in, Young Company, serves as an incubator for change, not just improving the artistic skill of each person, but changing their outlook on the world. I am changed, so I will make change. This inspiration has led me into activism. I’ve worked with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Teen Council to try and increase the arts funding in Wisconsin by collaborating with Create Wisconsin and other advocacy groups. Finally, I’ve taken these skills and brought them into my leadership as the captain of my swim team. By getting the chance to motivate the team, be there for them, acknowledge the ups and downs of Franklin High School’s swim program, we were able to get the change we needed as a team, receive a new coach, and face set back after setback to ultimately have an incredibly successful season. Our team’s integrity, willingness to stick up for what was right, and ability to persevere throughout the season taught me how important community is. Moreover, it taught me about patience and to see things out to the end. My overall participation in a sport, specifically swimming, has shown me the amount of hard work, dedication, and mental toughness it takes to succeed. A person must be willing to break themselves down and build back up to succeed, and learn every step of the way. It is a quality I hope to bring with me for the rest of my life. Overall, the changes I have undergone and the effect that I’ve seen each of my communities have on people has driven me to give back. I am confident now that somehow, someway, the world will be different when I leave it.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. At least that was the goal I set for myself the summer before my junior year. I was on a theater retreat to American Players Theater and we spent time listing our values as performers and as humans. I synthesized a lot of my past work and progress, what did I love to see, what did I hate. A lot of it came down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script. It is important to me to change people and once that happens, I will be successful. Its greatest culmination for me occurred during The Wolves, a play about a teenage girl's soccer team. I played #00, an especially anxious, high achieving girl who was trying to find a better way to live her life. We were scarily similar; two girls, both 17 years old, who were high achieving students, and had something they were subjectively good at. Her, the saxophone and soccer, me, swimming and theater. We both suffered performance anxiety. Each night, #00 has what is known as a timeout. She is fully alone having an anxiety and rage fueled breakdown about the way her life has been up until this moment. I went on this journey with her for a month as she broke down and changed her beliefs. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. It fundamentally changed me and the way I approached the world. It helped get rid of the nagging performance anxiety and made me realize how much the arts have affected me in a positive way. I wasn't the only one being moved by this work. I connected to audience members who played soccer, experienced panic attacks, were teenage girls, who lost children, who lost a friend, and much more. Plays like The Wolves are incredibly important to empowering young people, artists, parents, athletes, and more. Theater has the power to reach people like nothing else can. It showed me how I could be successful, and how I could help others to do the same. Through all my work to tell the most truthful story, I could connect with the audience, share the stories I deeply care about sharing, and in some way leave my community in a different place than when I entered it. The culmination of my life in theater and my experience in The Wolves has led to a simple statement: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me. By being truthful to my character, truthful to myself, and involved in my community, I hope to make a difference in the world and continue to exemplify the impact theater can have on society. By having the funds to continue down my artistic path and to receive opportunities like The Wolves, I will be able to reach this same success at a higher level, and make the impact on the world I dream of. By getting a college education, I will be able to learn the skills that helped me succeed in The Wolves and how to take those skills and foster them into the exemplary performer I hope to become.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. At least that was the goal I set for myself the summer before my junior year. I was on a theater retreat to American Players Theater and we spent time listing our values as performers and as humans. I synthesized a lot of my past work and progress, what did I love to see, what did I hate. A lot of it came down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script. It is important to me to change people, so that became the focus of my junior year. Its greatest culmination occurred during The Wolves, a play about a teenage girl's soccer team. I played #00, an especially anxious, high achieving girl who was trying to find a better way to live her life. We were scarily similar; two girls, both 17 years old, who were high achieving students, and had something they were subjectively good at. Her, the saxophone and soccer, me, swimming and theater. We both suffered performance anxiety. Each night, #00 has what is known as a timeout. She is fully alone having an anxiety and rage fueled breakdown about the way her life has been up until this moment. I went on this journey with her for a month as she broke down and changed her beliefs. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. It fundamentally changed me and the way I approached the world. It helped get rid of the nagging performance anxiety and made me realize how much the arts have affected me in a positive way. I wasn't the only one being moved by this work. I connected to audience members who played soccer, experienced panic attacks, were teenage girls, who lost children, who lost a friend, and much more. Plays like The Wolves are incredibly important to empowering young people, artists, parents, athletes, and more. Theater has the power to reach people like nothing else can. Through all my work to tell the most truthful story, I could connect with the audience, share the stories I deeply care about sharing, and in some way leave my community in a different place than when I entered it. The culmination of my life in theater and my experience in The Wolves has led to a simple statement: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me. By being truthful to my character, truthful to myself, and involved in my community, I hope to make a difference in the world and continue to exemplify the impact theater can have on society.

Since 8th grade, I’ve dreamt of being an actress. I dove head first into theater, joining an intensive acting company my freshman year of high school. I quickly felt the pressure. Still, I loved the acting community, and being a part of it only confirmed my belief that I wanted to act for the rest of my life. I dug myself deep into the theater world. But there was this fear in the back of my mind that was holding me back. My peers told me I was ‘too smart to waste my brain in acting’. I just wanted to get better and prove to them that I could succeed. The opportunity to prove myself came the summer before my sophomore year. I was in a Shakespeare play and I was finding my footing in the acting world. But I was wrong. The play crashed and burned thanks to an unprofessional director. The summer ended, and what had I gained? Stage fright. And self doubt. There was a new weight on my shoulders that I couldn’t shake. I kept going, thinking, “the Utah Shakespeare Festival will help me curb my fear ”. According to all the seniors before me, it would be a transformative trip. We rehearsed for a month, and the scenes were phenomenal. Then the flight got canceled and so did the trip. This trip that was supposed to be so life-changing, turned into an ordinary weekend in Milwaukee. I wouldn’t let that stop me. A month later, I got cast as Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream. I was terrified to walk out on stage thinking I was going to forget my lines and that I wasn’t good enough. I was surrounded by an ensemble who seemed unaffected by the canceled trip. People who were secure enough in their beliefs to keep going as confidently as they were before. I had every doubt in my mind, and they seemingly had none. On top of all that, it was a very challenging academic and athletic year filled with more responsibilities than there were hours in the day. I stopped believing in a future in theater. But a part of me couldn’t let the thing I loved the most go. My beliefs in my future had been closed in by anxiety, pressure, and fear. But my love was still there, chipping away at its enclosure. I kept going. We went to Utah this time. I held onto the amazing community around me who had infinite faith in my success. I trusted my training and we did very well. Shakespeare, who had taken everything from me, gave it all back. I felt good performing and I was confident in what I had crafted. I started to dig my dream back out. I reached the surface during The Wolves. It was my first professional production, and going in, I was so excited. I played a character scarily similar to myself. #00. Within the play, one of her friends dies and it changes everything. I went on this journey with her almost every night for a month, as she broke down and changed her beliefs. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. I learned from that. I held onto the people I loved, and more importantly, the thing I loved. I held on to my fractured beliefs and pieced it back together into something stronger. It doesn’t seem so scary. Right now, I can dream on.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. The way I've done that is through being a leading young actress and advocate in Wisconsin and beyond. The way I navigate these situations is through my mission statement: I am a passionate storyteller, who, by trying to tell the most truthful version of a story as possible, wants to leave the world better than I found it. Through each production, new leadership opportunity, or academic situation I am put into, I try to navigate it by uplifting the stories that are important to my mission statement. Although the work I have been doing goes beyond my community, the impact I’ve had on my neighbors in my own community is what means the most to me. The way I’ve worked to strengthen my community is being the president of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Teen Council. I've been on their council for 4 years, being treasurer for two years before becoming president. Through the teen council, I have been given many opportunities to uplift my artistic community and learn from them. My most recent opportunity was to speak on Create WIsconsin Day, where myself and other theater leaders went to the capital to talk to senators about the state of public funding for the arts in Wisconsin. While I listened to the speakers that day, it made me realize how much theater and art had an impact on me and everyone around me. Each play, song, and movie, deeply moved these people to actively try and make a difference in the world so more people could experience the striking impacts of art. When it was my turn to speak, I talked about the needs of the Wisconsin arts community, and how the leaders of each community are forced to undergo many challenges to produce their art, have teen programming, and to simply tell their stories. These experiences moved me to take on an advocate's point of view. As an actress, being able to tell the stories of my neighbors was the way to strengthen thier community efforts. It expanded my mission statement beyond just performing to using leadership and advocacy skills to support others’ goals in the arts. As an actress outside of advocacy and the Teen Council, my goal is to tell stories truthfully and with representation. I was in a project with Renaissance Theaterworks, a theater company working with a great, inclusive mission, to put on The Wolves. The Wolves is a show about a high school club soccer team as they navigate through a difficult season and many life altering events. As we put on the play, and subsequently went into performance, we had a substantial impact on not only the theater company and the actresses themselves, but the neighbors in the community who had come out to see the show. We showed them what it meant to be young people, brought them back to their childhoods, and made them think on contemporary issues, strengthening our audiences. Overall, the show boosted public awareness for Renaissance, had two of the first completely sold out shows in the history of the theater, and brought the community together to show the importance of representation and performance art. These interactions made me realize that I have the ability to spend my life using my art to influence others. I will, through being a passionate storyteller, advocate, and leader leave the world better than I found it by uplifting the stories of my community.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. At least that was the goal I set for myself the summer before my junior year. I was on a theater retreat to American Players Theater and we spent time listing our values as performers and as humans. I synthesized a lot of my past work and progress, what did I love to see, what did I hate. A lot of it came down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script. It is important to me to change people and once that happens, I will be successful. Its greatest culmination for me occurred during The Wolves, a play about a teenage girl's soccer team. I played #00, an especially anxious, high achieving girl who was trying to find a better way to live her life. We were scarily similar; two girls, both 17 years old, who were high achieving students, and had something they were subjectively good at. Her, the saxophone and soccer, me, swimming and theater. We both suffered performance anxiety. Each night, #00 has what is known as a timeout. She is fully alone having an anxiety and rage fueled breakdown about the way her life has been up until this moment. I went on this journey with her for a month as she broke down and changed her beliefs. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. It fundamentally changed me and the way I approached the world. It helped get rid of the nagging performance anxiety and made me realize how much the arts have affected me in a positive way. I wasn't the only one being moved by this work. I connected to audience members who played soccer, experienced panic attacks, were teenage girls, who lost children, who lost a friend, and much more. Plays like The Wolves are incredibly important to empowering young people, artists, parents, athletes, and more. Theater has the power to reach people like nothing else can. It showed me how I could be successful, and how I could help others to do the same. Through all my work to tell the most truthful story, I could connect with the audience, share the stories I deeply care about sharing, and in some way leave my community in a different place than when I entered it. The culmination of my life in theater and my experience in The Wolves has led to a simple statement: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me. By being truthful to my character, truthful to myself, and involved in my community, I hope to make a difference in the world and continue to exemplify the impact theater can have on society. By having the funds to continue down my artistic path and to receive opportunities like The Wolves, I will be able to reach this same success at a higher level, and make the impact on the world I dream of. By getting a college education, I will be able to learn the skills that helped me succeed in The Wolves and how to take those skills and foster them into the exemplary performer I hope to become.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. I’ve spent all of high school in an acting conservatory, formulating a statement that encompasses the kind of career I want to have. What that has led me back to is storytelling. In all of its forms-not just performative, I hope to be a part of leading someone's story. My mission statement encompasses these goals: I am a passionate storyteller informed by my training and education, who through my works wants to leave the world better than I found it. I will strive to be as truthful as possible on stage and in life to always learn from those that surround me. On stage through performance storytelling, I will use my classical, movement, and objective training to tell truthful interpretations of stories and work with my ensemble of actors to do so. I will strive to better myself and apply learned skills to work efficiently in performance, grow professionally, and inch towards a more positive world. In college, I hope to study acting at either Minnesota or Madison. I need funding to afford to go to college, especially if I want to come out of it debt free.To go instate at Madison/get reciprocity at Minnesota, it would cost an average of $11,603 a year. However, that tuition would increase at Minnesota due to the conservatory style and study abroad program I would be a part of, costing 5,000-7,000 more per year. I currently have around $30,000 saved and in scholarships, which would not fund the full amount. My goal is to work this summer and throughout college to get enough money to pay off college as I am in it. I also need a college education, as training my skills at a young age will allow me to build on it for the rest of my life and is a necessary resource to succeed. Storytelling builds empathy, promotes well-being, and most importantly can serve as a form of activism, as stories are more memorable than facts and figures. By learning how to build trust with audiences, I will be able to leave an impact that leaves audiences better than before. To make change, I must be changed and I believe that I will undergo change if I continue to make strides to meet my goals. In the accounting world, I want to be a part of telling the financial story of other businesses. Every business has a goal and personal mission, and I hope to support it. My ultimate goal in accounting is to operate the financial side of a theater, or other non-profit organization. I hope to do business with companies that are people centered and have a goal to make a difference in whatever field they are present in. What is unique about Minnesota and Madison is that they allow me to not only pursue theater, but also accounting. If I get the opportunity to study at these schools, I would be able to make an impact in both fields. Ultimately, I hope to help people move forward into a world that is changed for the better. The way for me to do that is to pursue my career goals at a college that allows me to do both. I can attend acting school, while also getting an accounting education which will lead me down the right path. I believe that through hard work and collaboration with the correct people, I will be able to make these strides in my college education, career, and beyond.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. At least that was the goal I set for myself the summer before my junior year. I was on a theater retreat to American Players Theater and we spent time listing our values as performers and as humans. I synthesized a lot of my past work and progress, what did I love to see, what did I hate. A lot of it came down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script. It is important to me to change people, so that became the focus of my junior year. Its greatest culmination occurred during The Wolves, a play about a teenage girl's soccer team. I played #00, an especially anxious, high achieving girl who was trying to find a better way to live her life. We were scarily similar; two girls, both 17 years old, who were high achieving students, and had something they were subjectively good at. Her, the saxophone and soccer, me, swimming and theater. We both suffered performance anxiety. Each night, #00 has what is known as a timeout. She is fully alone having an anxiety and rage fueled breakdown about the way her life has been up until this moment. I went on this journey with her for a month as she broke down and changed her beliefs. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. It fundamentally changed me and the way I approached the world. It helped get rid of the nagging performance anxiety and made me realize how much the arts have affected me in a positive way. I wasn't the only one being moved by this work. I connected to audience members who played soccer, experienced panic attacks, were teenage girls, who lost children, who lost a friend, and much more. Plays like The Wolves are incredibly important to empowering young people, artists, parents, athletes, and more. Theater has the power to reach people like nothing else can. Through all my work to tell the most truthful story, I could connect with the audience, share the stories I deeply care about sharing, and in some way leave my community in a different place than when I entered it. The culmination of my life in theater and my experience in The Wolves has led to a simple statement: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me. By being truthful to my character, truthful to myself, and involved in my community, I hope to make a difference in the world and continue to exemplify the impact theater can have on society.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. At least that was the goal I set for myself the summer before my junior year acting season. I was on a theater retreat to American Players Theater and we spent time listing our values as performers and as humans. I synthesized a lot of my past work and progress, what did I love to see, what did I hate. A lot of it came down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script. It led me back to The Laramie Project, its effectiveness as both a piece of theater and activism, and how it changed the course of my life. My first ever play was The Laramie Project. I didn’t know much about theater, hadn’t been involved in activism, and didn’t know about the atrocity of Mathew Shepard's death. I quickly became immersed in tragedy, horrified by what had happened, and shocked that people could be so hateful. Our director was a member of the LGBTQIA+ community and the show was her passion project. She taught myself and the entire cast about Laramie, the world’s push back, and how the show was developed. We got the opportunity to speak with Stephen Belber about his process, interviewing the people of Laramie Wyoming, and the world's reaction to his work. What it made me realize was how important theater is as an activism tool, and how it can be used to bring awareness to stories, organizations, and how to help. From that moment on, I dedicated myself to working beyond storytelling. I became an active arts advocate in Wisconsin, joining the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Teen council. I attended Create Wisconsin Day, spoke to state senators, and attended leadership and activism conferences to learn as much as I could about the state of arts funding in Wisconsin. I turned to organizations like the Mathew Shepard foundation and kept up with other theatrical organizations like the Tectonic Theater Project and local theaters to continue to support these organizations. Overall, my exposure to theatrical activism through The Laramie Project has given me a new goal for my theatrical career. Because of the impact the LGBTQIA+ community has had on me it moved me to a different theatrical future. My mission statement is as follows: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me.

I didn’t get much of an arts education until I entered high school. I had my regular choir class and summer school short play, but I had never had any formal acting training. But during the pandemic, I discovered my interest and passion for theater. I quickly dove head first into acting, joining an online program and looking for any opportunities and programs that I could find. What that led me to was First Stage Theater Academy in Milwaukee. I auditioned for the Young Company, their conservatory style acting program, and got in. It changed my life. When I entered the program I didn’t know anyone or anything about acting but I threw myself into it. The people in my year quickly became a family. Throughout my entire acting journey, the people who have continued to inspire me are my cohort. They are the most dedicated and caring group of people who are always working to better themselves. They are gracious members on stage who are open to being vulnerable and sharing their talent so that everyone in our cohort can improve. They are strong scene partners and great people who are always trying to help each other succeed. I have received countless support throughout my journey from them and I look forward to having these connections for the rest of my life. What I have learned working with them has been equally if not as important as the education I’ve received through programming. The other most important people to my craft are my mentors. The Young Company has three directors, all of which have taken on different roles in influencing my journey. The head of the Young Company, Matt Daniels, is an incredibly accomplished and generous teacher who has shared his endless knowledge with us all. He has learned a lot about movement, acting techniques in general, and trained at Julliard. He is the kind of person who is always available if you have an acting question, always has something new and helpful to teach us, and is incredibly supportive when coaching us. Another of our head teachers, Marcella Kearns, has provided unwavering support both as a teacher and as a fellow actress in the MIlwaukee community. She has been a lifesaver as I apply to college for acting. Every time she directs me in a show or we are in a play together, I am re-inspired to keep acting. Every time I am lost in my journey or set off track, I can count on her shows to bring me back and challenge me to do things I didn’t know I was before capable of. Finally, the last of our three teachers, Elyse Edleman, has given me opportunities that have changed the course of my life. She took a chance on me and cast me in my first play, and then gave me my first professional job in acting. My first play, The Laramie Project, turned me onto activism through theater, and The Wolves, my first professional play, opened me up to a world of new opportunities. Overall, arts education has changed my life. I have been most influenced by The Young Company, my peers, and my mentors which has inspired me to be a better person and performer. I hope to continue to push myself to achieve my goals to continue what I was inspired to do.

As an actress, who almost daily is exposed to different interpretations and representations of mental illness, and as a person who continues to strive to maintain my mental wellness, mental health is incredibly important to me. My most recent exposure to these mental health struggles as an actress was when I was in The Wolves by Sarah Delapp. I played #00, a high achieving student and athlete who struggled with intense performance anxiety to the point where it made her physically sick before every soccer game she played. Not only was #00 written in this way, but so was another character, #2, who struggled with an eating disorder. Myself and other teenagers represented these young girls each night, showing to an audience of people of all ages the struggles that many teenage girls go through. It was an honor to bring awareness to these topics each night. Storytelling brings awareness, especially when a play about teenage struggles is being portrayed by teenagers. Using storytelling, I was able to bring awareness to these struggles, and show an audience just how important mental health is for teenagers. However, telling these stories ewas taxing. The way I managed the onstage mental strain along with my actual mental strain was by being incredibly mindful of my schedule and emotions. Each night after my breakdown, I regained my own sanity by laying on the floor and slowing down my artificially sped up breathing. Then, dancing during bows allows for a quick release from the emotionally heavy play. While all of this sounds like I had it in check, sometimes I struggled. That's when I could lean on the amazing community that I had surrounded myself with. For many of us, The Wolves was our first professional job. It led to a lot of performance anxiety, so we leaned onto our mentor who also happened to play the soccer mom. She gave us a list of tips, both funny and very serious, that brought us comfort, during the highly vulnerable moments of the production. She taught us how to regulate ourselves better, and it is something I am going to take with me as I continue to pursue acting. Overall, awareness, exposure, and access to coping strategies is essential for positive mental health and is something that I will continue to embrace throughout my acting journey.

As an actress, who almost daily is exposed to different interpretations and representations of mental illness, and as a person who continues to strive to maintain my mental wellness, mental health is incredibly important to me. My most recent exposure to these mental health struggles as an actress was when I was in The Wolves by Sarah Delapp. I played #00, a high achieving student and athlete who struggled with intense performance anxiety to the point where it made her physically sick before every soccer game she played. Not only was #00 written in this way, but so was another character, #2, who struggled with an eating disorder. Myself and other teenagers represented these young girls each night, showing to an audience of people of all ages the struggles that many teenage girls go through. It was an honor to bring awareness to these topics each night. Storytelling brings awareness, especially when a play about teenage struggles is being portrayed by teenagers. Portraying these struggles, however, didn't come without difficulty. I am incredibly similar to #00. When I played her I was also 17, struggling with performance anxiety, and keeping up with school work as a high achieving student. My tech week was also my finals week. I was overwhelmed, holding down a professional job schedule while swimming, taking finals, and leading clubs. On top of all that, the show was an emotionally difficult one. 7 shows a week, I simulated a panic attack breakdown on stage in a moment of physical and emotional breakdown. The way I managed the onstage mental strain along with my actual mental strain was by being incredibly mindful of my schedule and emotions. Each night after my breakdown, I regained my own sanity by laying on the floor and slowing down my artificially sped up breathing. Then, during bows, they played the song "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger" which was a quick and intense switch up that always made us laugh, allowing for a quick release from the emotionally heavy play. For myself, I kept a schedule to remove any unnecessary stress and keep up on my finals. Despite the added time commitment, playing a sport was incredibly beneficial to my mental wellness. It kept my body in shape and allowed me to release any unwanted emotions through exercise. While all of this sounds like I had it in check, sometimes I struggled. That's when I could lean on the amazing community that I had surrounded myself with. For many of us, The Wolves was our first professional job. It led to a lot of performance anxiety, so we leaned onto our mentor who also happened to play the soccer mom. She gave us a list of tips, both funny and very serious, that brought us comfort, during the highly vulnerable moments of the production. Overall, awareness, exposure, and access to coping strategies is essential for positive mental health and is something that I will continue to embrace throughout my acting journey.

In the play, The Tempest by William Shakespeare, one of his final plays, the themes commonly found in theater performance, end of life, and farewells are present. In Prospero’s final epilogue, often seen as Shakespeare’s farewell to theater, the play is simply wrapped up into 20 lines to summarize the plot of the play, have Prospero ask to be released, and ultimately to represent Shakespeare's release from the stage for the last time. Prospero’s epilogue goes as follows: “Now my charms are all o’erthrown, And what strength I have’s mine own, Which is most faint: now, ‘tis true, I must be here confin’d by you, Or sent to Naples. Let me not, Since I have my dukedom got, And pardon’d the deceiver, dwell In this bare island by your spell; But release me from my bands With the help of your good hands: Gentle breath of yours my sails Must fill, or else my project fails, Which was to please. Now I want Spirits to enforce, Art to enchant; And my ending is despair, Unless I be reliev’d by prayer, Which pierces, so that it assaults Mercy itself, and frees all faults. As you from crimes would pardon’d be, Let your indulgence set me free.” The epilogue opens with the subtext of the scene just before. Prospero has surrendered his magic. The charms he has been playing with the entire play are now gone, he has released his spirit, Ariel, and he no longer has the magic that Ariel has been mainly using to conduct his business. Now, Prospero is just as human as anyone in the audience, and he recognises that by saying that he is most faint, which means, in this context, without magic. He is now more understanding of his age and experience. The next two lines convey the process of the theater. Prospero can either be confined to the stage if the audience does not leave, or, the audience can clap (a metaphor that Shakespeare sets up later), set Prospero off to Naples, and the show will end. Shakespeare is setting up the importance of the audience to theater. Then, Prospero tells the audience that he should not dwell on the stage too long. Because Prospero was given his dukedom back in the last scene and pardoned his brother who had banished him to the island, his mission is complete, so he no longer needs to be on stage. He reinforces that idea in the next few lines, as the spell that Prospero is mentioning is Shakespeare’s way of alluding to art of theater, with the bare island being a reference to the now bare stage that he no longer needs to be on. Then, the aforementioned applause metaphor is seen. One of Shakespeare’s more famous allusions, the audience must clap to end a show. It signifies the finale, and that now, bows can happen, the play can end, and everyone will go home. Prospero is again wishing the audience to enjoy his endeavors throughout the show. Just after, gentle breathes are in reference to the laughs and cheers that Shakespeare/Prospero hope to get from the audience. In the context of the play, those breaths would guide his sail back to Naples, but it also references that if you are not laughing, exclaiming, or cheering, then Shakespeare failed, as the ultimate goal of the theater is to please the audience. After summarizing his wants, past circumstances, and the need for release, Prospero wants spirits to enforce him, not only referencing the spirits riddled throughout the play, but also alluding to a reference me made earlier, “we are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep”, which signifies the end of Shakespeare’s career and soon after his life as he asks the spirits to enforce him in his ending. Shakespeare died only 5 years after the Tempest was first written, which is why The Tempest is seen as his farewell play. Then, Prospero asks for art to enchant which is hoping that the arts, theater, and beyond will continue to be enchanting, and also hoping that Prospero/Shakespeare pleased the audience. And finally, Prospero’s end is despair, until they clap for him. In this instance, prayer signifies clapping rather than literal payer, which is a reference to the way that prayer and clapping require similar motions. The next few lines signify the art of clapping and what it does for performers. Clap pierces the air, it is loud, and if any performer messes up, it frees all the faults of performance because the audience is now accepting the show that they saw. The final couplet is Prospero’s final release. He pardons the audience, tells them the show is truly over, they can leave, and asks them one final time to indulge him in applause to be set loose. Overall, the goal of the final epilogue of The Tempest is to allow for Prospero to ask for his release. Prospero has been theorized to represent Shakespeare, and the play itself to be Shakespeare's final farewell. However, Shakespeare’s work has lived on, mainly because of its timelessness, but also because of the tradition of the theater and putting on his work. Prospero’s final Epilogue serves as a temporary end to a neverending story and represents the taboos of the theatrical experience as Shakespeare gives his final farewell to the stage.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. At least that was the goal I set for myself the summer before my junior year acting season. I was on a theater retreat to American Players Theater and we spent time listing our values as performers and as humans. I synthesized a lot of my past work and progress, what did I love to see, what did I hate. A lot of it came down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script. It is important to me to change people, and that's how I want to approach my future persing my passion in theater. For a long time, I was hesitant on what I wanted out of my life and college. My dream since middle school was to be an actress. But my early high school years presented many challenges I needed to overcome, resulting in me doubting my aspirations to get a college education in acting. That was until I was in The Wolves, however. I played #00, an especially anxious, high achieving girl who was trying to find a better way to live her life. We were scarily similar; two girls, both 17 years old, who were high achieving students, and had something they were subjectively good at. Her, the saxophone and soccer, me, swimming and theater. We both suffered performance anxiety. Each night, #00 has what is known as a timeout. She is fully alone having an anxiety and rage fueled breakdown about the way her life has been up until this moment. I went on this journey with her for a month as she broke down and changed her beliefs. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. It fundamentally changed me and the way I approached the world. The culmination of my experience in The Wolves led me to a simple statement: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me. To achieve this goal and to see the changes I want to make, a conservatory acting program will be just the thing I need to move forward. Having higher level training, getting to learn the techniques that make the best storytellers, and being around an ensemble of like minded actors is the way to move forward. To be able to make a difference, I need to undergo many changes in myself and see changes in other people. Conservatory education creates an incubator of growth which allows vast changes to the actors entering each program. I hope to be one to undergo these changes to achieve my professional passion.

As an actress, who almost daily is exposed to different interpretations and representations of mental illness, and as a person who continues to strive to maintain my mental wellness, mental health is incredibly important to me. My most recent exposure to these mental health struggles as an actress was when I was in The Wolves by Sarah Delapp. I played #00, a high achieving student and athlete who struggled with intense performance anxiety to the point where it made her physically sick before every soccer game she played. Not only was #00 written in this way, but so was another character, #2, who struggled with an eating disorder. Myself and other teenagers represented these young girls each night, showing to an audience of people of all ages the struggles that many teenage girls go through. It was an honor to bring awareness to these topics each night. Storytelling brings awareness, especially when a play about teenage struggles is being portrayed by teenagers. Portraying these struggles, however, didn't come without difficulty. I am incredibly similar to #00. When I played her I was also 17, struggling with performance anxiety, and keeping up with school work as a high achieving student. My tech week was also my finals week. I was overwhelmed, holding down a professional job schedule while swimming, taking finals, and leading clubs. On top of all that, the show was an emotionally difficult one. 7 shows a week, I simulated a panic attack breakdown on stage in a moment of physical and emotional breakdown. The way I managed the onstage mental strain along with my actual mental strain was by being incredibly mindful of my schedule and emotions. Each night after my breakdown, I regained my own sanity by laying on the floor and slowing down my artificially sped up breathing. Then, during bows, they played the song "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger" which was a quick and intense switch up that always made us laugh, allowing for a quick release from the emotionally heavy play. For myself, I kept a schedule to remove any unnecessary stress and keep up on my finals. Despite the added time commitment, playing a sport was incredibly beneficial to my mental wellness. It kept my body in shape and allowed me to release any unwanted emotions through exercise. While all of this sounds like I had it in check, sometimes I struggled. That's when I could lean on the amazing community that I had surrounded myself with. For many of us, The Wolves was our first professional job. It led to a lot of performance anxiety, so we leaned onto our mentor who also happened to play the soccer mom. She gave us a list of tips, both funny and very serious, that brought us comfort, during the highly vulnerable moments of the production. Overall, awareness, exposure, and access to coping strategies is essential for positive mental health and is something that I will continue to embrace throughout my acting journey.

As an actress, who almost daily is exposed to different interpretations and representations of mental illness, and as a person who continues to strive to maintain my mental wellness, mental health is incredibly important to me. My most recent exposure to these mental health struggles as an actress was when I was in The Wolves by Sarah Delapp. I played #00, a high achieving student and athlete who struggled with intense performance anxiety to the point where it made her physically sick before every soccer game she played. Not only was #00 written in this way, but so was another character, #2, who struggled with an eating disorder. Myself and other teenagers represented these young girls each night, showing to an audience of people of all ages the struggles that many teenage girls go through. It was an honor to bring awareness to these topics each night. Storytelling brings awareness, especially when a play about teenage struggles is being portrayed by teenagers. Portraying these struggles, however, didn't come without difficulty. I am incredibly similar to #00. When I played her I was also 17, struggling with performance anxiety, and keeping up with school work as a high achieving student. My tech week was also my finals week. I was overwhelmed, holding down a professional job schedule while swimming, taking finals, and leading clubs. On top of all that, the show was an emotionally difficult one. 7 shows a week, I simulated a panic attack breakdown on stage in a moment of physical and emotional breakdown. The way I managed the onstage mental strain along with my actual mental strain was by being incredibly mindful of my schedule and emotions. Each night after my breakdown, I regained my own sanity by laying on the floor and slowing down my artificially sped up breathing. Then, during bows, they played the song "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger" which was a quick and intense switch up that always made us laugh, allowing for a quick release from the emotionally heavy play. For myself, I kept a schedule to remove any unnecessary stress and keep up on my finals. Despite the added time commitment, playing a sport was incredibly beneficial to my mental wellness. It kept my body in shape and allowed me to release any unwanted emotions through exercise. While all of this sounds like I had it in check, sometimes I struggled. That's when I could lean on the amazing community that I had surrounded myself with. For many of us, The Wolves was our first professional job. It led to a lot of performance anxiety, so we leaned onto our mentor who also happened to play the soccer mom. She gave us a list of tips, both funny and very serious, that brought us comfort, during the highly vulnerable moments of the production. Overall, awareness, exposure, and access to coping strategies is essential for positive mental health and is something that I will continue to embrace throughout my acting journey.

I want to leave the world better than I found it. At least that was the goal I set for myself the summer before my junior year. I was on a theater retreat to American Players Theater and we spent time listing our values as performers and as humans. I synthesized a lot of my past work and progress, what did I love to see, what did I hate. A lot of it came down to impact. How is your work affecting the audience, the cast members, and uplifting the many stories being told in a script. It is important to me to change people, so that became the focus of my junior year. Its greatest culmination occurred during The Wolves, a play about a teenage girl's soccer team. I played #00, an especially anxious, high achieving girl who was trying to find a better way to live her life. We were scarily similar; two girls, both 17 years old, who were high achieving students, and had something they were subjectively good at. Her, the saxophone and soccer, me, swimming and theater. We both suffered performance anxiety. Each night, #00 has what is known as a timeout. She is fully alone having an anxiety and rage fueled breakdown about the way her life has been up until this moment. I went on this journey with her for a month as she broke down and changed her beliefs. She concludes that it's not worth it to be so anxious, to doubt yourself at every step, and to doubt your love for the thing you cherish the most. It fundamentally changed me and the way I approached the world. It helped get rid of the nagging performance anxiety and made me realize how much the arts have affected me in a positive way. I wasn't the only one being moved by this work. I connected to audience members who played soccer, experienced panic attacks, were teenage girls, who lost children, who lost a friend, and much more. Through all my work to tell the most truthful story, I could connect with the audience, share the stories I deeply care about sharing, and in some way leave my community in a different place than when I entered it. The culmination of my life in theater and my experience in The Wolves has led to a simple statement: I am a passionate storyteller, informed by classical and movement work, who through my work wants to leave the world better than I found it, by striving to be as truthful as possible on stage and always learning from the ensemble of actors that surround me. By being truthful to my character, truthful to myself, and involved in my community, I hope to make a difference in the world. I am changed, so I will make change.