Personal Narrative: The Musical By Heather Mcnamara

Before I even entered high school, I obtained a love of theater and the performing arts. I have been singing and acting since I was nine, as well as on and off dancing since three. Taking classes at a local theater really introduced me to this interest of mine. When I entered high school, an injury kept me from doing shows. But now I graduate with nine high school shows under my belt, as well as being in multiple community theater productions. Being a part of these shows made me feel a strong sense of belonging, and whether I was an ensemble or lead

Lauren Rezac- My weekend did not really start off to exciting. Right after my Fast-Pitch game I was picked up by my dad in our 1962 jeep. When we got home we had supper and we all stayed up for a little bit and went to bed. On Saturday I had the house to myself, my dad was helping our neighbors while my mom and sister were in ST.Cloud.So When I was at home I was pretty bored so I did what most bored kids I know would do turn up the music and make a little mess, basically I made slime. When mom and Alexis came back my sister got a call from my dad to go help out so I went with her.I helped by steering the tractor when she got bored and she did the speed and stuff like that. On Sunday we gave mom her gifts then we got ready to trapshooting me

I saw my first Broadway show at only seven years old and have seen over ten more since then, due to the fact I live only two hours away from New York City by train. I always enjoyed theatre, but I didn’t grow the deep love I have for it now until acting became a career option. I spent a week of the summer completely in the business world of theatre and came out knowing I had to be an actress. I dived into all things Broadway, bought as many albums as I could, watched as many interviews as possible, saved up to see more shows, but even with all of this love for

To say that theater is what changed my life would be a lie, it wasn’t the productions themselves that changed me, but the people I met there. Most important of those, was Kristen Mackie. However, at fourteen I wasn’t exactly doing hand stands after my first encounter with her. To set the stage, imagine being close enough to see the spittle fly from the snarling mouth of a woman whose rage seems to be seeping out of every available pore of her body and then finding out that she’s the teacher of the club you just joined. Unsurprisingly, our relationship didn’t seem to improve much after that point, and I found myself trapped in a commitment I wished desperately to escape from.

Over the course of my life, I have had many opportunities to overcome and learn from various obstacles. I have learned how to not only identify problems, but encounter the solutions. This greatly benefited me during my time serving as a zone leader in the Cuernavaca Mexico mission. Because of this experience, I am confident speaking in public and teaching large groups of my peers. I am organized and have a grand testimony of the power of planning daily and weekly. Before my time in the mission, I dedicated much to the arts of singing and acting. I have worked hard to develop a talent, and through that talent, I have had the privelege of performing in eleven stage shows, musicals, and benefit concerts, as well as traveling with a jazz acapella

As I sat enveloped in her story of overcoming conclusions, she taught my heart to embrace each quirky part of myself. I identified with Elle Woods’ need to prove herself. This idea of accepting individuality provided me with the courage to audition for my first show, the Arvada Center’s production of Footloose. Since that first nerve-racking, nail-biting experience, I have come to find myself through each move I dance onstage. Getting my first big role, the Dragon in a production of Shrek, I poured my heart out, knowing the people ready to judge and mock were watching. After the show, the peers who judged my intelligence approached me, saying things like, “I never knew you could sing like that.” Through performing I found myself again. I shifted back to the girl I was, the girl who cared about her morals. I want to perform, hoping to provide audience members with the ability to connect with characters who can offer them a point of realization, as Elle Woods did for me.

When the Weeping Willow trees became abundant around every sector of the car, I knew we were getting close. Once we passed the bridge by the small, grass bank called Cypher Beach, I could barely sit still in the front seat of my grandparents truck because I knew we were about to arrive. There I sat, waiting anxiously with my size ten feet smashed into a size seven foot box because if I removed them, I affected my grandfather's ability to drive and my grandmother’s ability to sit and look pretty. Even though the flip of the coin always caused me to sit in the front, compared to the comfy back where the other four children sat, it was all worth it when we arrived to our destination. The destination was just up the road, where we turned right

Hi could I please have an iced skinny cinnamon dolce latte with coconut milk please? My name is Courtney Travaglini, currently I'm in my cold home state of Maine. However you are about to learn is not my "home" anymore. My husband and I are stationed in North Carolina and have been there for the past two years. Thanks to Starbucks transfer program and love of the military I was able to transfer back to Maine during my husbands deployment.

On stage, speech and language are two of an actor’s primary tools for communicating a character’s specific intentions. Coming from an acting background, this initial artistic interest was my gateway into appreciating the power of speech and language. By studying vocal anatomy and effective onstage use of one’s voice, I began to value the daily uses of speech and language in new ways. When a close friend suffered a traumatic brain injury, I was shown what it meant to recover after a person’s communication capacity is compromised. Because of his therapy, he relearned a basic speaking vocabulary. His communication was limited, but it was present. My roots in theater and this personal experience have led me to speech pathology.

Twenty years ago today, God gave me my second child. She has come to have many nicknames from my gift from God, my Angel of Jesus, to my Princess. Lauren Bailey, you have developed into a beautiful young lady, who is head strong and always knows what she wants. Even as a baby you knew what you wanted and how you were going to do things. When the doctors told me that they needed to take you away as soon as I had you, I lost a piece of me, because I did not know what to expect especially after your first surgery at five days old, but you showed your dad and I that you were strong and willing to live. You have shown so much courage, even at 9 years old, when you had your open heart surgery and you told me “Mom if God wants me to be with him, I

After sitting at the same desk for three years, I figured I was beyond seeing anything new I was wrong. Walking into the classroom was Carrie Underwood. My idol since like third grade. She walked in came right to my desk and handed me a poster of her. It was signed by her too! Then she told me to follow her. We got on her tour bus, my whole family was on there too. There was a concert in Orlando that I wanted to go to because she was going to sing at. So we got on a plane but nobody told me where we were going. We landed and went to our hotel and Carrie went to hers. We were just getting ready for bed and my mom said she had something fun planned for tomorrow. So I didn't really get much sleep that night but I got a couple hours if I did get

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 day was June 23, 2017 in Huntsville, Al. A friend of mine named Jalen Caudle threw one of the biggest parties of the year. He had a DJ, buffet, mini bar and more. This was a huge event for surroundings schools alike but so many things happened at this party. Which lead to it being one the greatest parties of the year.

The dramatic arts have enthralled me from an early age; I have always been in awe of the deceptive ability that professional actors are able to display on the big screen. This fascination inspired me to dream of becoming an actor for much of my early life. I began trying out for television advertisements at the age of four until I turned seven. Eventually, after a string of unsuccessful auditions, my parents told me to accept the fact that I had as much of a chance of becoming a successful actor as I had of becoming a professional basketball player (my mom is 5’4’’ and my dad is 5’8’’.) Regardless, I continued to pursue my dream of acting throughout middle school, auditioning for an inordinate number of school plays and operas. Confronted with

It was the last week of school and everyone was required to go on a schoolwide field trip to see the Phantom of the Opera. At the time, theater wasn't an interest of mine, but an hour into the bus ride, my friend turned to me and said, "You know, I'm gonna miss you when you go to Tech next year." This simple endearment stuck with me throughout the whole day. In fact, it stayed with me through my entire high school career. The stage and the actors who played the parts are a distant memory, but the feelings that it evoked in my twelve year old self will never be forgotten.