Bundled up in a world of Hope.

I finally feel at home. Everyday I wake up at 6 in the morning, having gone to bed just two or three hours earlier to grab my early morning coffee at Joe's Cafe next door and sprint to the bus across the street. Not only am I in the place that I've always wanted to be, but I also live with my best friend in the universe and am surrounded by people I love at all times. I'm not lonely here, like I thought I'd be. In fact, even when I'm alone, I still feel surrounded by love. It's the first time I've ever felt like that. I've never had a "home" before, really. My family moved around alot, and even when we were in one place, I was living at my boarding school, an experience that I held a contempt unlike any other for, for the seven years that I was there. I learned to hate routines, and to rebel against schedules. I learned that teachers have no respect for their students, and that all the kids at school are there for one thing: to trash each other. You grow to trust no one at a place like that and it really starts to mess with your head. Here it's different. I have a home in any part of town that I walk into. I fall into step with the people around me no matter where I am. Maybe it's me being naive and possibly even a little dumb. But I've already grown to love the people I go to school with and they make me so excited to wake up every morning and experience a new day's adventure. That's brand new to someone like me. I come from a world where the only feeling you get at the thought of waking up is dread and hatred. It's not like that anymore. That's all gone. It's happy here. The world is always alive. I know that I can trust my teachers and I already feel like I've learned more in these past 2 weeks than I have in my entire four years of high school. The only thing I feel when I go to sleep is lucky. Having never been close with my own family, I've formed my own family with the people I'm surrounded by, and I feel that with every breath I take, that family grows and prospers and changes as a unit.

The first night we were here, my roommate and I decided to do probably the dorkiest thing we could think of and go down to Times Square in the middle of the night just to eat ice cream and run around. Did you know that the Coldstone in Times Square is open until 2 in the morning? Well it is :) Just like everything in this wonderful city at our fingertips, it's just one more place that welcomes you with open arms at any moment of day, night, morning or anytime in between. Being at Marymount and living here is the first time that I've ever felt like my dreams of pursuing theatre as a career are possible. At my school we were always shot down when we talked about having dreams like that. But for some reason, that one night, our first night here, with all the possibilities before us in the entire world, standing in Times Square at 1:30AM as one day turned into another, anything felt possible. That was the first of many moments like that. In Times Square especially, the lights are always so bright, like little stars reminding you that you can do anything you want and be whomever you want. Everything felt perfect in that one instant. I felt tiny and humbled by the experience of standing in this giant mecca of the theatre universe, but at the same time like I could accomplish anything I set my heart to. That's what this city is for. You come here to learn and grow and become whoever you decide to be, and mostly to make your wildest fantasies come true. No one knows your past, but everyone is a part of the future ahead of you. That's what's so inspiring about it. I love it here. I promise that I'm going to treasure every moment I spend here. Because really, how could anyone not?

I've always wanted to be here. Right where I am right now. Typing about my first week's experience LIVING the New York City dream. The first thing I learned here was to be grateful. Not everyone is as lucky as us. Not everyone gets to do what they love every day of the year. This is what everyone wants. And now that's just our everyday life. How kickass is that?!