I’ve grown up stitched into the backdrop of the stage I call life. I’ve always blended in and played it safe. Risks were foreign to me; dreams were outlandish remarks my mind would sneer at me. I honestly believed my adult life would be wasted away in a nine to five gray cubicle prison. My outlook changed one night, early fall of my sophomore year. My mom and I are cleaning up dishes from dinner and I mention the up coming auditions for the spring play.
“Casey, you should have tried out for a lead last year.”
“Mom I would have wasted my time only seniors only get leads.”
“How much do you want to bet you could get the lead this year. I know you can do it. ”
“Oh mom you crack me up.”
That moment she made me stop and think, “Maybe I could”. She unleashed something in me that sparked at the nerves throughout my body. The next day I grabbed a script and got to work. At the auditions after school, I felt people staring at me. I was just that “quiet girl” to them. They know I have no chance, but I know I do. The next 24 hours are the most volatile hours of my young life. Who do I think I was trying out for a lead, I’m just a sophomore! The next day I run into a fellow actor in the hallway.
“You got the part”, he says.
“Shut up!” I gasp.
I want to see for myself. Once I saw my name on that list adjacent to the very character I wanted, I began to experience bliss. Bliss was a level of happiness I subconsciously felt when I was given life. Feeling it now in this hallway staring at that paper, I knew I was addicted to bliss.
I stunned that audience. I stunned myself. But my mother wasn’t stunned. She knew I could do it all along. No one will ever have that much faith in me as she did. If it wasn’t for her, I’d still be wondering what the future holds for me. From that point on, I was unstoppable. I accomplished so many things in the next two years that my head is still spinning. I had taken risks and accepted the consequences. I was never embarrassed or ashamed if the outcome wasn’t in my favor. I knew it wasn’t my last chance, and I was going to try again.
Right now, I’m still doubted. I feed off of doubt, and enjoy being the underdog. I’m always getting pushed down, but I always pull myself back up effortlessly. The drive for my goals is impenetrable. I work for everything I have and everything I want. There’s nothing that can stop me.