UC San Diego

When I first decided to go to graduate school for acting, my goals were very clear: To refine my craft and to widen my range. As I delved into the journey, I found myself being overly heady and painfully over thinking everything. Jim Winker said I had a baroque mind and Kyle Donnelly said I needed to just trust myself. What became clear was that it was in the doing, not in the thinking, that produced progressive results. I threw myself wholeheartedly in good faith applying the tools and exercises being suggested. Even when I didn't want to, and especially when I thought it was corny or elementary, I did it anyway. Slowly and surely I felt a change. I began to seek help more frequently. I witnessed my voice and speech connecting in pleasant and surprising ways within my performances,. I began to act with more ease and less stress. I feel proud and I feel grateful of having had the opportunity to be guided by each of the faculty members. I thank everyone for making me a more dynamic and complex actor, without the excessive heady complexity that can often weigh an actor down. As I look back at the work I see what I've earned: I feel worthy of moving forward with a newfound trust in my craft and a newfound range. And for that, I am ever so grateful for everyone that helped me strive though this wonderful program at UCSD