My History

Narrowing down what to talk about in this paper proves to be somewhat difficult for me. I tend to gravitate to writing about my theatre life. Though it has been a huge part of my life it is something that I have always hidden behind. It is also impossible to avoid when talking about my past because so many things have resulted from theatre. I will write a little about when I lived up in Massachusetts, then the transition that my parents and I made when we moved down to Florida and I will also write an overview of the last couple of years.

I was born on June 23, 1989 in Boston, Massachusetts. I was born 6 weeks premature which caused allot of concern to the doctors and I was in the ICU for the first 6 weeks of life. Once the doctors said I was healthy enough to go home, my parents brought me home to Lakeville, Massachusetts. My parents are Christians and taught me the Christian faith as I was growing up but we were never very religious. Even though they did send me to a Baptist Christian school, we never went to church on a regular basic. It did not mean that we never had a strong believe and faith in God. My parents sent me to a private Christian school for 3 ½ years, then for the last half of my 4^th grade year, they sent me to a public school for the first time in my life, which for me was a big shock. Going from a class size of 10 to 40 is not an easy transition for a 10 year old. Although, I believe that at that time, I handled it better than most kids my age would have.

At the age of 9 (1998/1999), my grandmother on my father's side passed away. As a result, my parents decided to move down to Florida. So, in the summer of 2000, my parents and I moved down to Florida. For me, leaving all of my friends that I had made and having no contact with them devastated me. Over the summer, I became even shyer than I was and became very anti-social. Even though my parents had sent me to a summer camp so I could make some new friends. When I started school down here at Julie Rohr Academy, I did make a few friends that I always hung out with at school and that I still talk to now. I never really felt like anybody knew me or understood me. While at Julie Rohr Academy, I fell in love with the theatre and it was the one place that made me truly happy. Ever since then, performing has been my one major outlet. As time went on, I never felt like I made any "real friends." I always felt alone. Around 2003, my religious views also started to change and over time I became an atheist. 2006 was the lowest I had been emotionally, at that point in time, I was very depressed. There were many factors as to why I was in this state that had been building up over the last few years. I believe I was somehow still traumatized by moving down to Florida and having to "start over." Also, around the age of 11 or 12, I found out that my mother was an alcoholic. My father also had a very bad temper since I was little. It didn't help that he had been in a wheelchair since he was 6 years old. He had gotten polio which left him unable to walk. My father also made me go to four different schools from when we first moved here through high school. So I could never "settle down" and get comfortable with my surroundings. In March of 2006 I was working on a show and was working with a few people that became the first people I had ever considered friends. Around the same time, I became a Christian again and started going to church on a regular basis.

In spring 2008, I started going to Manatee Community College. The first year I attended MCC, I was unsure what I wanted to major in. Then I settled on being a Voice major. Since I started at MCC, I've also been doing the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah with the Sarasota Choral Society since Christmas 2007. I am working on it for the 3^rd season in a row, which I am honored to be part of such an incredible choir. I have also become very interested in the technical aspect of theatre as well over the last couple of years. Being involved in theatre, it is very important to understand and have a respect for every aspect of theatre.

This is just a quick overview of my past starting from when I was born, to when I moved down to Florida and the last couple of years. I found it difficult to write this paper because I am not used to writing a paper about myself. I am used to having to do some research of some sort but it is always a good thing to try different things.