Blumey Awards Scholarship Winner Makes Red Carpet Debut

I'll start with Tribeca and work my way in reverse chronological order. A friend of friend asked me to audition for this short film. A film that was about what happens when you realize someone you knew and trusted was responsible for something heinous. After reading the audition material, I felt immediately drawn to the project. I had my first audition then I had a call back/director's session. Once I found out that I booked the role, the director and co-writer invited the cast to come out so we could get to know each other. They went over the story and that was when I found out that they went to high school with one of the Boston Marathon bombers. I was shocked at this information. To be completely honest, it was a side of the story that I never even thought about. We head to Boston and Cambridge and shoot the film in about 5 days with 1 day of pickups in Brooklyn. The film is accepted into Tribeca and I walk my first red-carpet and see my work on the big screen for the first time in my life. It was a thrilling experience and it was one that I'll forever be proud of. This piece is an example of how film and storytelling can inform us about the world we live in as well as challenge us to examine the "bigger picture". The bombing took place while I was living In Florence and it made me do my more research on what happened and the impact it had on the people of Cambridge that knew the people responsible.

Spring 2013 I spent 4 months living in Florence Italy, a semester that truly changed the course of my life. It was the first time that I had left the country. I traveled to Paris, Venice, Madrid and to the Amalfi Coast. During the trip to the Amalfi Coast, my friends and I took a boat cruise around the coast. I'm not much of a swimmer but there was grotto that our tour guide said was a must-see. So in my broken Italian I asked for a life jacket. My friends started to dive off the boat and I stayed back, contemplating whether it was worth the risk of drowning in the Mediterranean. I reminded myself of the novelty of this moment, that nobody in my family had been to Europe, both my grandparents were just admitted to a convalescence center, the sacrifices that my mom made in order to give me a better life. It was with that energy in my mind, I swallowed my fears and leaped off the edge of the boat. As I made my way to the grotto and took respite on the rocks, I felt new life in my lungs and I was so grateful to all the people that had invested in me and my journey.

My journey thus far has had many twists and turns, having lived in Queens New York for the first 11 years of my life, I thought I had it all. When my mom told me that we were moving to Indian Trail, North Carolina I felt completely dejected. I struggled with adjusting to this new life. It wasn't until I had the Broadway Experience trip during senior year did I really get a glimpse into what my future could hold. At that point, I was still unsure about where I would be attending school in the fall even though NYU was the top of my list. I came home from school and saw a large NYU envelope in the mailbox. I ripped open the letter and found out that I had been accepted into their Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre program. I called my mom and my next call after that was to my high school theatre teacher Mrs. Briggs. NYU for four years was going to cost over a quarter million dollars. A price that I knew was going to be difficult to afford. However, it was through the Mary Doctor scholarship that a significant amount of that financial burden was lifted. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity the Doctors and Blumenthal bestowed on me. I saw In the Heights because of them and to this day it is still my favorite musical. Their philanthropy directly impacted the ripple effect that led to me meeting Chadwick Boseman(two years prior to Black Panther's record breaking release) and being able to talk to him about being a black artist in today's age. As far as the future goes, the possibilities are endless. I just finished an invite only master class with Terry Knickerbocker whose has coached Academy Award and Emmy winners. My current plan is to enroll into MFA program next fall, where I look forward to further evolving as a human being and as an artist.