To Infinity and Beyond...

Funny thing….graduating. It seems cliché to say, but it feels like only yesterday when I started my freshman year at BSC. When I was eighteen and a senior in high school, I was not sure that college was the path I wanted to take. With very big dreams, I wanted to tackle the world of Broadway with a vengeance. My mother, knowing that I was not quite as ready as I believed myself to be, coaxed me into at least giving college a chance. Moving from Virginia to Alabama wasn’t exactly how envisioned the start of my journey, but it proved to be the right decision as I encompass the strength, experience, and confidence garnered in the next step toward my career. I fondly remember my first audition for BSC’s production of Urinetown. I excitedly called home to inform my parents that I had been cast as Little Sally. This role was my favorite portrayal to date and a great learning experience as we took the show on tour for approximately 6 months as it kept being passed as a contender in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Competition. I will never forget working with Martin Landry, and the mentoring and advice I received from the phenomenal upper classman. I may not have worked in the great city of New York yet, but with help from my theatre, dance, and vocal professors who challenged and prepared me for auditions, I’ve worked summer theatre gigs in both Texas and Vermont. Birmingham-Southern also provided me with the opportunity to work with extremely talented classmates who I have grown to admire through their talent and their commitment to becoming better performers. I am a firm believer that if you want to excel at something, you must surround yourself with people that are greater than yourself so you can continue the commitment to improve yourself. But what would my future hold past college? With my graduation, I can truly say that I am ready to take on the world with the excitement as if I were 18, but with the knowledge of a 22 year old college graduate.

As I took my last bow in Striking Twelve in November, I found it ironic to end my last performance in a show of that title. For in my childhood memories, it was at the stroke of midnight that Cinderella’s experience would most probably end, but at the conclusion of Striking Twelve, my Cinderella experience would begin. For my first out of college job opportunity will begin with Disney Entertainment as Ariel from The Little Mermaid in January. I can happily relay that my response from Disney has been welcoming and gracious. Opportunities abound. Theater is about conquering different roles, well….I think I can handle being a princess. I haven’t had the opportunity to be cast as anything royal thus far, but I’m ready for a castle in a warm environment.

I say goodbye to my professors, friends, and former cast mates. I wish you all the best in your career journey. When you wish upon a star…..

Skyler