Blair Beasley
FREEWRITE 1
I was born and raised in a suburban town called Andover, which is about 30 minutes north of Boston, Massachusetts. The town is known for it’s well-established school system, including one of the prestigious private boarding schools in the country, Phillips Academy Andover. The schools has a long list of famous alumni including none other than Bill Belichick (Coach of the New England Patriots), both President Bushes’, and the founder of Au Bon Pan, Louis I. Kane just to name a few. The public high school is also known for having some notable alumni including Jay Leno (Talk Show Host), Michael Chiklis (Actor) and Martin Johnson (Lead singer of “Boys Like Girls”). As you can see, the standards and pressures of achievement are set pretty high, particularly in the high school level. Basically, by the end of your senior year, you were expected to: A. attend college (the more well known the better!) B. Walk across the stage at graduation and C. find a suitable major that was acceptable to society. Well, I got the first two down but it was my major that was intriguing to most people who asked.
I’ve been dancing since I was seven years old and began performing in theatre when I was about 14. I started to be recognized as “the girl in the plays” and by my senior I became recognized for the efforts and passion that I put into my work with theatre. However, what most people don’t realize is that, although I may have been one of the more committed actors in my school and I knew that that was what I wanted to pursue, there hundreds upon hundreds of “Broadway hopefuls”, nationally and internationally, who are just as committed, dedicated, and possibly even more talented than I am. Also most people don’t realize that we not only have to apply to universities and colleges academically, but we also have to audition to be accepted into the school’s theatre department, which has a limited number of spots available for their freshman class.
Syracuse had about 20 slots for the 800 or more people auditioning for the program. So when you’re applying to eight programs, which is the average number just about, then it can get pretty stressful; not only is there the consideration of our SAT scores, college essay and such, but also an element to our application that can easily accept or reject us from the school in one audition. So it was kind of difficult to explain all this to your guidance counselor and expect helpful advice of what to do.
However, there was a place where we could vent about our experiences with auditions at different schools, ask questions about concerns we had and certainly exclaim about our acceptances into our top choice, and it was through a Facebook group; a virtual safe haven where I could separate my school & home life from the theatre world that I lived in so frequently. To me it didn’t matter that I was not about the popular group or knew what the latest gossip was in our grade, I knew that I was the odd man out but I was not going to let it bother me just because I was not apart of the typical activities that everyone else was apart of. By the time graduation rolled around, it may have been clear to my peers and I that I may not have followed in the customary footsteps of most high school graduates but, they did however, recognize me as being successful with my college of choice and major even though I was isolated through most of it.
