the “c” word

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. College.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about whether or not I want to go. Obviously my parents want me to. The hard part is trying to factor in whether or not that really matters to me. You see, I want to be a dancer, there’s no mistake about that. The question is, how do I get there? I don’t want to be a ballerina. Contemporary and commercial dance are where my heart’s at. I don’t necessarily need to go to college to be able to do those, I just think my parents believe that all successful roads in life start with university.

The problem, part two: I don’t want to waste the first four years of my adulthood, when I could be joining a company/agency or getting better training and seeing the world (London, specifically), trapped taking jazz and working towards a useless bachelor’s degree. I wanna do exciting things and meet exciting people. I want to dance.

Some of my friends’ life goals look like this: graduate high school, go to college and get a meaningless degree, and maybe work a little bit before marrying a dude and raising his family. I’d rather not. I have ambitions. Every day college starts to seem less like an achievement to aspire towards and more like a roadblock on the path to what I really want to do. I’m in the eleventh grade and the reason for everything I do nowadays has been reduced to “It’ll look good on your transcript.”

I overheard a conversation between a friend and his mother when they were the car yesterday. He told her that he didn’t want to go to uni because voice acting was the career he was after, which made college somewhat unnecessary. His mother said to him, “Will you feel the same way when you can’t feed your own family?” and that swiftly ended the conversation. Tense silence in the car.

Our parents just want the best for us. But I’m not ready to dedicate more anxiety, time, and money thinking about something that will determine the course of my adulthood. It’s too big for sixteen. I just want to dance honestly.

— Bethany.

I Know What I’m Doing, Really.

Well, sort of.

Lo and behold, it’s Krysta again. It recently occurred to me that I haven’t explained what I want to do overseas. Now I know it’s been stated that I’m the theatre major of the group–if we haven’t stated that, now we have–but there are quite a few details missing from that statement.

For example, very few of all acting gigs pay well enough to support one’s self (and her companions). Aside from blockbuster movie/TV/Broadway stars, only big theatre companies make enough to consistently pay their actors. It’s no wonder so many actors get crazy–you have to fight a lot of dreamers to get a job. Not only that, but you have to look a certain way. That means talent alone can’t get you a great job.

Now I know you all must’ve heard this before–it isn’t new information to me, either–but it’s just that this is all dawning on me very suddenly. It’s one thing to hear this information over and over again, but it’s another to face the facts as an aspiring actress. What puts me two steps (because one is not enough) ahead of the game? What makes me stand out?

And that’s when I knew I had to study theatre. I’ve been in multiple plays and played almost every improv game in the book, but learning from the best of the best is what’s going to separate me from the competition. That’s going to launch my future career. That is what’s going to help me be the best (and trust me, you need to be the best in this business).

I’m sure some of you are wondering why I don’t sound like I’m relying on a “normal” job for the time being. It’s partially because I get bored easily of things I don’t enjoy, and I don’t enjoy “normal” forms of making money. And I know a job isn’t for fun, but I have trouble with sticking to things I can’t stand. There’s no way to say, “I didn’t do as I was told because it was too boring” to your employer without getting in trouble. Now I have my nannying job (and will soon have another one, I hope), but that can only last so long. I mean, once we head to England, I obviously have to get a new job. As if it wasn’t hard enough just getting my first one….

So to recap, I have to get more jobs, go to theatre school, learn a lot, kick butt at auditions, become the Doctor’s companion as soon as possible, make enough to support self and friends. Simple.

I’ve got this.

~Krysta

snapshots [6/52]

We’re behind again (shock!), but we’re all pretty busy these days. As you know, we’ve got a lot on our plates. Thanks for being patient with us.

{bethany} drinks before band practice

 

{krysta} a sign you could find should you stumble into a certain ghetto by accident

{maddie} a beautiful butterfly

snapshots [5/52]

Again, we’re running a bit behind with this project, but better late than never, right?

{bethany} preparing for the nutcracker (it’s gonna be en pointe, ba-dum-tsss)

{maddie} a beautiful view

{krysta} waiting at the bus stop for the girls she nannies (in a pile of crunchy leaves)

Madelaine’s (AKA Maddie’s) Life

Don’t hate me, I’m not a woman of many words.

I’m working on School; a lot. I’ve started calculus. I’m sorry, did I say calculus? I meant to say the decent into hell.

I’m in a play. It’s a musical. Bandi and I are in it together. The name of the play is A Pirate’s Life. It’s about pirates…

I tried to take the SAT’s. They wouldn’t let me in the building. They gave me the wrong time on my ticket. So I scheduled to take it two more times.

I’m going to the gym twice a week, at the army base gym. The gate guard asked my age the other day he was very disappointed to find out I was seventeen. Mom just sat there laughing.

This is Madelaine by the way.

I had pizza last night. It was good.

I finished a painting too.

I call it The Mountains.

–Maddie