Undergraduate / 'Ballet Florida, my second home' - FSU essay [2]

Florida State University is more than just a world-class academic institution preparing you for a future career. We are a caring community of well-rounded individuals who embrace leadership, learning, service, and global awareness. With this in mind, which of these characteristics appeal most to you and why?

For twelve consecutive years, I walked into my second home, Ballet Florida, ready to learn. Three days a week of dance class turned into five days a week. An hour of dancing a single a class every few days turned into 4 hours of rehearsal each night. It was an institution of growth, of learning, of proving to yourself and others that you were destined to be an educated, learned, and talented performer.

Before my freshman year of high school, Ballet Florida unfortunately shut down due to bankruptcy. However, I was ready to take on high school, where being a member of the cheerleading team would fulfill my outlet to perform. As the year progressed I was notified of a local school holding auditions for a Musical Theatre scholarship. I auditioned as to see whether or not I would even be accepted and ironically, I was the recipient of this scholarship

My mother and I sat in the head of the Drama Department's classroom, ready to turn down this twelve thousand dollar yearly musical theatre scholarship, preparing our selves to break the news that I couldn't attend this school. There I was, perched on a chair right in front of his desk, representing the Cardinal Newman Crusaders in my royal blue CN hoodie, and khaki uniform skirt. There was no possibility that I could transfer to American Heritage for my sophomore year. American Heritage was Boca, and I was Palm Beach. How could this relationship ever operate successfully?

Well, this "relationship" proved to be outstanding and as a risk I took, it is one that was not regretted. I have learned so much in the past four years, about myself, and about myself as a performer. In my case, it was acting, singing, dancing, and performing in general. This is why the characteristic of learning appeals so much to me. Learning is such an important part of my lifestyle because when applied to factors like rehearsals, and acting, it is learning of your mistakes, it is the learning of how you can better yourself as a performer that is what moves you forward and, with singing and dancing, technique is what the individual is taught from day one. So, as I transition into my college years I take with me the intent of learning everything I can to further my knowledge of school, of my hobbies, of leadership, service, global awareness, all of which Florida State University has to offer and more.

Undergraduate / COMMON APP ESSAY - performing and musical theatre is my passion [3]

I had just been awarded a yearly musical theatre scholarship to the American Heritage School of Boca/Delray. As performing was, and still is, my passion, and as a musical theatre enthusiast, I could not be happier to be in a place that would build my potential in acting, singing, and dancing to beyond a high school level. However, as overjoyed as I was to enter a new, artistically stimulating environment, I was morose to leave my previous school, Cardinal Newman, where I fulfilled my performing outlet through a favorite sport of mine: Cheerleading.

Being the active and involved teenager that I was, I convinced myself to participate in both, be a cheerleader and a theatre buff! After all, my whole life was the repetitive process of: go to school, show choir, play practice, and then ballet until the late hours of night and get home at nine o'clock to start homework...and repeat! I knew I could make it work. To me, I was getting the best of both worlds... being an athlete, and a performer! Though to those at American Heritage, a cheerleader couldn't be a theatre geek, and an educated performer couldn't be a bland cheerleader. Two weeks into the smooth (but somewhat of an identity crisis) cheer season I was accepted in to the first production of the season, Ain't Misbehavin. As I was bombarded with this new addition to my days, I felt the wrath of both the cheer squad, and the theatre troupe. My schedules were interfering and I would run to rehearsals late drenched in sweat from cheer practice, which I would get in trouble for leaving early. I felt as though I was being pulled in a million directions... I was a new student at a new school where I knew no one, and all I was trying to do was take advantage of all it had to offer! I was heartbroken, but realistically I had no choice but to quit the squad and continue on in my theatre aspirations. After all, that's what I came to this school for, right?

So, the cheerleaders thought I was dissimilar because I sang musical theatre tunes opposed to pop music, and the thespians viewed me as berserk because to them, cheerleading was not a sport, but just annoying. They could assume what they wanted to about me, but no way was I to be defined by any stereotype. All I really was doing in this situation was proving to everyone that I will do whatever it takes if it means getting in front of an audience, performing, and making them smile, which is the sole purpose of both cheerleading and theatre! In the end, I could not please everyone but I did teach myself two lessons without even really trying: To stay true to my passions because they make me the unique, diverse individual that I will always be, and that one cannot be in two places at once, as hard as they may try.