I didn’t have a lot of time at school and even though I loved being there, I loved the theater. When I first started theater that’s when I really found my people. I used to take this summer camp every year called That’s Entertainment. The woman who does all the parades at Disneyland used to put it on in Whittier, California. She used to do the Super Bowl half-time show every year when they have the crowds of kids waving flags in unison.  So we’d stay at the dorm rooms which was a huge experience to be away from your mom and to learn to fend for yourself.  And we were given three or four weeks to put on a full production, which with 150 kids under the age of 16 – that’s a big to do.  I loved to perform, but I never wanted to be a lead ever. I was totally happy being dancer number 15 and waving a rose in the background.  And she just refused to let me do that. Her motto with the whole camp was that “everyone has their moment.” So she pretty much forced a role upon me and made me get on stage and try it out.  It was my first time being alone in front of an audience and I think that was a defining moment because I lived through it and realized it was addicting, and that’s pretty much what my life has revolved around every since.

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