Not many teenagers can say that they started chasing their dreams immediately after high school. Most follow in their parents footsteps and are accepted into state colleges or technical schools and never even think of what “could have been”. For me, I never even second guessed my self on what I wanted to do and accomplish in my life.(Not to say that others have or haven’t). I remember sitting down with my family at Gusben’s (a restaurant in Cornelia, GA) and my Nana asked me what college I would love to go to if money were no issue. Well, I had just heard of a school named, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy that seemed a perfect answer to that question. At this school you would work with Broadway professionals on a daily basis with dance, musical theatre studies, voice, and much more. I never dreamed that I would ever be good enough to go to a conservatory in Manhattan to study what I love. It was about a week later that I amazingly got a VIP Audition Invitation to the school, which was about to take place in Atlanta. (AMDA had only heard of me once at a Georgia Thespian Conference, which I never received a callback from them for my individual audition.). I was asked to sing an entire song of my choice and do a one minute monologue for an admissions adviser. I remember working countless hours on that Tom Sawyer monologue (a role I would never play) and working with my middle school and high school chorus teachers on “Surrey With the Fringe on Top” for my musical theater song.
Finally it was the day of the big audition in Atlanta and I remember mom telling me, “Justin, it’s all in God’s hands what happens today”. I knew it was as well but something seemed so different about this audition than the others. A confidence that I never had showed up in me when I entered that audition room. I did my monologue dead letter perfect, as well as my song and they asked me to do my scales and amazingly I kept going higher than I had ever anticipated. I remember seeing Casey Colgan and the pianist’s eyes getting bigger and bigger as I hit those extremely high notes and I knew deep down that I had it. I left the room in shock of my self and extremely pepped. Never have I ever felt that way. Around the end of October I called my admissions person at AMDA and he said, I had gotten in. The very first college that I had fully applied for (and the school of my dreams) had accepted me for their conservatory program! My mother cried in her office when I got they news and we celebrated that evening at Pueblos in Clarkesville.
I am not going to write much about my experience at AMDA but it was a grand one. I met so many countless friends and connections that I will never forget and I did so many things young actors around the world and even in NY only dream of doing. I wasn’t able to complete my studies at the famous conservatory due to money (and I wasn’t very happy there to be honest) but I got out of it what I put in. I think back on it now and there are so many things I would have done differently and so many things I would have done in general that I didn’t know about. I get asked often why I left and if I graduated and all I can say is, God has other plans for me- just not at AMDA. When one door closes, God opens another one. I truly believe in that statement.
If I can give anyone advice on what to do with their life, “follow your dreams”. Be realistic, have a real job but,GO FOR IT. Things may not go the way that you planned for them to go all the time but great things can happen if you believe. Do what matters most to you while you are on this Earth and don’t worry what anyone else thinks. God has a plan for us all. I just know it 🙂
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