It was the Fall of 1985. The first semester of a freshman-year theater class, Theater 101 (everything in life is 101 the first time you do it, right?).
I really didn't know my path. I knew I loved media, marketing, and writing. I knew I was pretty good at theater (I was actually a really good dancer. I got into theater because I played football and my high school was putting on West Side Story and wanted football players to play Jets and Sharks). So, theater it was.
My T.A. was named Patricia (Pat) Ryan. A brilliant and talented Grad student who taught our class.
To be accepted into the program, you had to do a 2-3 minute monologue in front of 13 professors. My closest classmates were Nancy, Todd, and Matt. They were all so talented. Nancy was amazingly nice, smart, and had a huge heart. Everything seemed cool and easy for Todd. Effortless. Breezy. Matt was one of the most naturally funny people I had ever met.
Pat called us in after our auditions and told us all we made the program. She then told Nancy, Todd, and Matt they could go but she wanted to talk to me alone.
She told me "I made it but not by a unanimous vote." She asked me "Do you know why you weren't unanimous? It's because you are good and you know it. You don't try as hard as the others. You take something, learn it, throw it away, and then move on to the next thing."
Wow. I was completely taken aback. I was fucking 18 years old and had no clue how to respond at first. Lucky for me, I eventually took it to heart, got my shit together, and started working harder for things. I stopped taking things for granted.
Nancy and I did "Barefoot in the Park." It was my first "real" theatrical kiss. Loved working with her.
I got out of the program about a year later. Matt and Todd were so much more talented than me but didn't conform to some of the more rigid rules and didn't get accepted the next time we had to re-audition. I thought to myself "How can they not make it?! Maybe this isn't for me."
I eventually went into Communications. Great choice with zero regrets.
I lost track of all of them but they left an indelible impression on me.
Thank you, Pat, for being real with me.
Thank you, Nancy, Todd, and Matt for being real friends.
Scene.
The image is Vilas Hall; UW-Madison Theater Department.