College Admissions Essay: A Career In Theater

I stood up in front of a hundred curious, gleaming eyes. “Hey guys,” I began, “I’m going to show you why the trombone is the coolest brass instrument ever!” I immediately whipped the slide out and performed a series of sequential glissandos, each one with more vigor than the last. That morning, I was performing with my school’s jazz band at the KIPP Elementary Academy in Philadelphia. Over a decade passed since I had last stepped foot in a Philadelphia school, when I attended the James Dobson School in kindergarten, yet the cozy gymnasium and the children’s crisp uniforms instantly evoked memories of my childhood. But one thing I did not remember from the past was having the opportunity to experience jazz at a young age. Thus, I desperately wanted to display the awesome power of brass instruments that is the soul of jazz music and inspire the kids to partake in the timelessly euphoric journey of music that I am blessed to have taken.

I have been involved in theatre since I was in the fourth grade and from day one, I was hooked. Nothing has given me as much excitement, encouragement or pride as the feeling when I know that I have helped in some way to make a production come to fruition. I have been onstage, backstage, in the audience, working front of house, selling concessions, and more of the hundreds of tiny things that go into making a theatre department thrive.

I never thought that I’d care about sports in my high school. Throughout my childhood, I accepted that I had sold my soul to the devil that is musical theatre; it wasn’t until I attended Thomas Jefferson high school that I realized the heartache that would come with that decision. The only problem I have with my high school is that it is sport focused, and could show more love towards the theatre department. Not only has the school spent money updating the sports equipment and gymnasiums, but it continues to neglect the deteriorating stage that gets used and rented out by many dance competitions, concerts, and play productions.

I have been in a lot of plays. Since I was little because of church. I have been in scrooge, the Christmas story, and many different Vacation Bible School skits. When I was younger, our teacher just put us in the plays with small parts. For example, in scrooge, I was a child from the Christmas past playing games showing how Christmas was. Then in the Christmas play I got to be Mary. We had a little scripts since we were young to read off of. I was a little nervous, but I was able to do it. There were also numbers so we knew when we were supposed to go. I also got to do some plays in school with my classmates. We did a musical and we also did some square dancing. IT was fun because we all were doing the same thing at the same time. Not only did we do plays at the

Growing up I was always fascinated by history. I like to imagine my love of history was passed on to me by my grandmother who was both a history major and a history teacher; however, I was never able to genuinely connect with her since she had already passed years before I was born. No matter the case, I reciprocated her passion. I decided that I wanted to pursue a career that involved a more hands on approach appertaining to history aside from teaching. Therefore, I concluded I wanted to ultimately work in a museum. An opportunity to shadow a museum director, a position I hope to be in one day, truly exposed me to that specific environment and sealed my determination like never before in regards to my future.

I see that you’re into theater. That’s cool. I saw quite a few plays. (I’m not much of a performer, though. Whenever I’ve been in front of an audience, I hid behind a guitar.)

Early on in my life, I was diagnosed with mild hearing loss which was thought to be caused by an autoimmune response initiated by the cytomegalovirus. Since, I have seen an audiologist at least every year to check up on my hearing status and to issue new hearing aids when I grew out of old ones. When I finally realized what my audiologist has done for me, I never stopped fanaticizing that I would one day be the one to save or even change someone’s life. Being a changed patient is one of the major motivations that have driven my desire to go into the professional medical field.

It is said in the textbook that Broadway “refers specifically to plays performed in the large theatre” (Wilson 34). Broadway is larger than off- Broadway and also off-off-Broadway; it is considered the elite and tickets are more expensive of all of the other types of Broadway theatres, because they spend a lot more creating, running plays and the salary of the actors. Furthermore, “theatre companies have been formed, and theatre facilities built, for the continuing presentation of high-quality professional productions to local residents. The performers, directors and designers are generally high-caliber artists who make theatre their Full-time profession’ (Wilson 35). While off- Broadway theatre holds fewer seats than Broadway theatre, it

Something that make me smile, gets me excited, makes me do something is softball. I have played ball all since the day I could walk. I started off playing baseball since I was 2 years old. Then at age 8 I went on to play softball for a select softball team in Pearland. Playing softball has always made me smile! I love the intensity, excitement, and the teamwork that is used to play ball. We all look out for each other and try to pick each other up even when we are not all in the spirit. Some activities that involve science, technology, engineering, and math that I find to be fun is robotics and underwater robotics. Robotics has always been a big part in my life because my dad is a robotics teacher for this school and I always loved playing

Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I have searched and searched for a talent that would give me a unique identity to make me stand out from my peers. When I was five years old, I was given the chance to be in a musical in our city's community theatre, PMT. This musical was "The Wizard of Oz", and I played the role of a munchkin in the Lollipop Guild. This initially sparked a great interest in theatre, and I fell in love with acting. I had an amazing mentor for my youth acting career, the late Jack Ewing. He played Harold Hill in PMT's production of "The Music Man", while I had the opportunity to play the role of Winthrop, the young boy that helps Harold Hill become a better person. (Jack later died a year before I had the chance to play the role of Harold Hill in my high school's production of "The Music Man Jr.") When I was about nine, PMT dissolved as an organization and therefore there was no community theatre around me for years, which put a setback in my interest and talent for theatre.

My career goal is to be a successful fiction author and to publish over two full series. I’ve chosen this career because I’ve already started writing and I love it. I think that I’d be good at writing because I’m really creative and I love to read, then scribble down whatever pops into my head. I’m always in the middle of writing something and my finger hitting the computer keys is not an uncommon sound. This makes me assume that I’d be good at writing as a career.

Since I was eleven years old, I have known that I wanted to act. It was something that my parents never particularly encouraged, nor supported, but the seed was planted. I was sixteen when I first stepped into my high school’s theatre for my first day of drama class, and it changed my life. I felt at home and I would even call it the point of my salvation. From discovering the theatre and joining the world of the performing arts, I have grown so much as a person and have found a sense of self and purpose that I didn’t have before. I could not have imagined that I would, or even could, have the immense passion for acting and theatre that I have today, and it is beyond me how I became so lucky as to find something that makes me so incredibly

The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Bye Bye Birdie, and Pippin are all shows I have been a part of in my years at Sanderson. In The Mystery of Edwin Drood, I was an ensemble member, a freshman learning the ins-and-outs of theater. My next year, in Bye Bye Birdie, I was the named character Harvey Johnson who was rejected from the prom too many times to count. Last year, in Pippin, I had the privilege of being Lewis, Pippin’s brother, and a humor-based character. All things considered, I have seen growth in my ability to perform with every show I was cast in. Being a chorus student, I was able to bring my talent of singing to the table which allowed me to really focus on improving my acting. I hope to be in the musical production this year so I can

I would most definitely consider a career in public relations. This is an ever-growing field and the need for public relations will never go away. I think what attracts me the most to this profession is the pace at which it moves at and the thought behind the processes. I don’t think there is just one specific aspect of its operation that interest me more than others, I just think it’s the field and the opportunities in general. I think what I think I would enjoy more than another aspect would be protecting, enhancing/building reputations of a company or business to the public. I think every company needs a public relations side if anything were to happen to their image. Another thing is working with those in the public eye—every celebrity,

I think back to my childhood, when I spent most of my time studying fine arts, without ever putting much thought into my true purpose in life. I will never forget the day when I was compelled to obtain a doctorate and serve in equatorial Africa. I was certain this was to be my destiny, but my family and friends thought otherwise. They accused me of wasting my scholarly talents and abandoning the gifts God had bestowed upon me. They challenged my rationality and looked down on me like a foolish child. That was when I realized that doing something truly good would come with obstacles. Discouragement and unawareness are both leading causes to missing an opportunity to act humanly to someone who needs a human. I persevered, certain that