I think itās finally time to tell Dās story. Iām not really sure why I have been waiting. I guess I feel like when I tell it, Iām ending something that has been a constant in my life for almost 2 yearsā¦and it makes Dās leaving all the more real.
Anywayā¦here goes!
Schools applied to: Otterbein, Santa Clara (BA safety), Wright State, Ohio Northern, Webster, Rider, Western Michigan, Oklahoma City, Ball State, Nebraska Wesleyan, Oakland, Drake, UAB, University of Evansville (Acting), UArts, University of Arizona, UC Irvine, Illinois Wesleyan, TCU, Texas Stateā¦all for MT except where noted
Prescreens: some recorded and some live at Moonifieds, passed all that required except Texas State
Accepted: UArts, University of Evansville (BFA Acting), Nebraska Wesleyan, UAB, Oakland, Nebraska Wesleyan, OKCU (BFA Acting), Ohio Northern, Santa Clara
Waitlisted: Drake (came off waitlist), University of Arizona (came off waitlist)
Coach: Mary Anna Dennard
DH and I met in a musical 20 years ago. Most of our friends are actors/musicians or are in education (DH teaches theatre). When D was born I remember thinking āplease donāt ever be an actor or a teacher!ā. I knew all too keenly how difficult the life of an actor is and how much education was changing, putting more responsibilities on the shoulders of the amazing men and women who have dedicated their lives to kids. When she was little, she wanted to be a chef, or a farmer, or a āfire ladyā but when you plant corn I guess you canāt be surprised when it grows.
I was directing and vocal coaching a local production of Aladdin and D begged to be the carpet. She was 6 and that was the end. After that, she did as much theater as possible (we would allow), danced 4 days a week, and sang in the school choir. Being a voice teacher myself, I didnāt really start her in lessons until she was a teen (by then she stopped listening to me anyway lol). She continued dance until her teacher said she had to make a choice between dance and theatreā¦she chose theatre. By the time she was in high school she was already planning a career in āthe show bizā even though she was at a very rigorous college prep high school on the campus of our local university. Most of her peers are off to Stanford, Harvard and MIT and her school counselor didnāt know what to do with her. Enterā¦College Confidential. I CANNOT imagine this process without the amazing people here!!
D is on the young side but insisted that she was leaving our home state. She wanted to follow her dreams somewhere else. Following the advice of some and knowing we really didnāt have anyone in our area with experience in the college audition process, we partnered with Mary Anna as Dās coach. She was fabulous! D got so many comments on her monologuesā¦they were perfect for her! Moo helped with a good balanced list (which is KEY) and her videos are so helpful. We only had to film 2 or 3 prescreen videos thanks to Moonifieds and those were submitted in October/Early Novemberā¦later than I wanted but what can you do.
With so many colleges on the list, I was the one who organized things with applications, essays and Honors College essays. We got everything submitted early since many schools attending Moonifieds required it. With applications submitted, we worked on the prescreen videos and D worked on her material, knowing the bulk of her auditions were at Moonifieds. She had already decided that she wouldnāt do any theatre this year so she could prepare. She also got a job so that she could help defray some of the costsā¦which were A LOT!
By Christmas, she had done the majority of her auditions and had a couple of acceptances already. Had I known then what I know now, we would have stopped but D was a glutton for punishment so she kept on LOL.
Next came Chicago Unifieds. Some of you remember the awful experience we had with one school. I will say now that the experience with this school started well before the actual audition when they posted the wrong dates they would be in Chicago. I followed the advice of many here and contacted the university when we got home. Of course they were apologetic HOWEVER D never received notice of her acceptance/rejection. I finally emailed them in the last few days of April and asked if they planned on letting D know since I never told her about what happened. She was left wondering about this school and figured they had rejected her but was very disappointed since she very much enjoyed her audition and the faculty they had there. The day I emailed, I received no response from the director of the program or the chair of the department, just a form letter from an assistant, dated that day, that she had not been accepted. I canāt say enough how extremely disappointing the entire experience was with that school but glad to know if thatās how they treat their students, we didnāt want any part of it.
The rest of Unifieds was terrific and we had some amazing bonding time. Honestly, with as frustrating as that whole experience was, and really the difficulty of the process itself, I wouldnāt trade it for the world. D and I made some incredible memories!
Continuedā¦
Then the waiting came. D did all of her auditions either at Moonifieds or Unifieds with one on-campus audition (Illinois Wesleyan) while we were in the area for Unifieds and two video submissions (OCU and Oakland). In March, the rejections started rolling in and so did the doubt and disappointment, and the second-guessing. She was very excited about the acceptances she had in hand but some of her favorites redirected her and that was tough. By April, though, she had several more acceptances, one with close to a full ride, and was starting to ālove the one youāre withā. I will say that we were happy that her hard work in high school was paying off in the number of scholarships she was given. We were truly blessed to be given what we were!
So we planned to visit a couple of schools in the beginning of April and a few more at Spring Break.
The school tours and visits were awesome! She loved every minute of meeting students and faculty, sitting in on classes and getting to know the area of the schools. Some even surprised her. In the end, she couldnāt decide between twoā¦Nebraska Wesleyan and Ohio Northern. She knew she wanted a small school and both of those fit the bill. Her visit to NWU was such a treat! Thank you to @KaMaMom for all of your support during this time! She absolutely fell in LOVE with the faculty and the students. This is a program that should get more buzz hereā¦top notch people!! Then we visited ONU. Small school in a small town for sure! D was under the weather during her visit and I was worried it would taint her opinion. She had a terrific day planned and enjoyed meeting the faculty and students. For the next week or so, she seemed set on NWU. We were ready to pay the deposit and celebrate! Then, at the last minute, she changed her mind. She spent some time thinking about the classes she would be takingā¦and the fact she could minor in dance and double major as well was a huge decision factor.
Soā¦we are so happy and proud to announce D will be a Polar Bear at Ohio Northern University in the Fall!!!
Words cannot express the appreciation I have for all of the amazing parents (and kids) here on CC! So many people helped along the way, that I feel like this was very much a joint effort lol. To the countless moms/dads who gave me advice, answered questions and supported me on this journey: Thank you, thank you! I canāt wait to see what the next four years will bring us!
